WHAT color underwear did you wear on New Year’s Eve?

Your choice may say something about your culture and your hopes for 2012 — as might whether you decide to ring in the new year by smashing dishes, or feasting on everything from cabbage to sticky rice soup to black-eyed peas.

And yes, underwear is one way to state your intentions — at least in many South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina.

If you wore yellow, that supposedly enhances your chances for abundance and reaping in more money. If it was red, then you’ll more likely find love in 2012. And if you were sporting white underpants, preferably new and clean, then peace was your top priority for the coming year.

One New Year’s theme that resonates across borders, ages and ethnic groups is feasting on foods in an effort to boost your prospects for the future.

Cabbage represents money and sauerkraut is for living a long life for some of Northern European ancestry, for instance. People in Spain and many Latin American countries down 12 grapes, one each to “guarantee” a month of happiness. Snacking on candy on New Year’s Eve is another way to ensure that 2012 is likewise sweet, and not bitter in Georgia.

Some New Year’s traditions have nothing to do with luck. A front stoop littered with broken plates in Denmark, for instance, suggests that the person inside has a lot of friends since, each New Year’s Eve, people throw their old dishes at the doors of their friends’ homes.

The agenda for fun in Canada depends on where you are, from partying at a “reveillon” in Quebec to savoring “beaver tail” — a Canadian fried dough treat — in Ontario. (SD-Agencies)