*nods* I'd guessed that forgetting it was a new year would be a major cause of people ceasing to say it. Though I think my attitude is more that New Year is a celebration of the time when the year changes, not of the fact that it's new in general; so much as I wouldn't say "happy birthday" to someone who changed age a month ago and I hadn't seen them since, I wouldn't say "happy new year" unless I actually saw them at, or closely around, the New Year week.