امسال

For Iranians, امسال is anchored to the solar year that began at the previous Nowruz, not to January 1. If you ask an Iranian in October "امسال چطور بود؟" (how has this year been?), they are mentally reviewing the months since the previous March. This is one of the small but real ways Iranian time differs from Gregorian time, even for Iranians who use both calendars daily. The phrasing also carries weight in poetry and song: امسال or این سال is often a meditation on what the year brought before it ended at Nowruz.