Annus Horribilis

literally "a horrible year". Famously used by Elizabeth II in her speech at the Guildhall, London, November 24 1992 to describe a year which saw marital strife in her children's lives, but also a fire at Windsor Castle which almost destroyed it and an intense public debate about why the Queen should be exempt from paying taxes.

The antonym is Annus Mirabilis (year of wonders), coined by John Dryden in his poem about the period 1665/1666, which saw not only the Great Fire of London, the Plague but also an unsuccessful war.