who or what is auld lang syne?

Question

other than a song!
:)

Answer 1

Auld Lang Syne is Scottish for "Old Long Since." This is another way of saying "long ago" or "days gone by."

Answer 2

The lyrics are from Scotland's greatest poet, Robert Burns:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind,
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of lang syne:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne:
We'll drink a cup o'kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

It's a nostalgic anthem for times past, never to return. (Ai! Laurie lantar lassi surinen! Yeni unotmie ve ramar aldaron... sorry, wrong nostalgic anthem. :-)

The literal translation is "old long ago," or "long since." There's a good translation of the Scots Gaelic words in the song at the URL in the Sources field.

Alba go bragh!

Answer 3

The song's name is in Scots, and may be translated literally as 'old long since', or more idiomatically 'long ago', or 'days gone by'. In his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language, Matthew Fitt uses the phrase “In the days of auld lang syne” as the equivalent of “Once upon a time”. In Scots Syne is pronounced like the English word sign — IPA: [sain]—not [zain] as many people pronounce it.

Answer 4

a poem by burns. means days gone by.