10 Christmassy terms 4 U.

Another year has sped by, is drawing to a close and, like every year, Christmas comes around so fast. It always seems to take me by surprise – am I the only one?!

Anyhow, here are the 10 Christmassy terms 4 U:

Christmas tree. Can be a real evergreen tree or an artificial one. It’s decorated with baubles, lights, tinsel and usually has an angel perched on the top.

Christmas cards. Sending greeting cards is a big cultural thing in English speaking countries – check out my free PDF for Christmas card formulations for you.

Mulled wine – check out last week’s blog post ‘Traditional German Christmas markets’ for more vocab.

Christmas Eve. (24 December). After everywhere closes down, it the time when we wind down before the big day – midnight mass, time with family, out at the pub. N.B. Remember: the ‘Bescherung’ (handing out of presents) is on 25 December.

Christmas stocking (a long sock). A term from a bygone age where stockings were hung on the bed – filled with small presents fruit, sweets, money or clothes by Santa over night – and opened by the kids on Christmas Day morning. I sure wish we could rekindle those days but alas today Christmas is consumption!!

Christmas Day. (25 December). We open presents, which are nowadays carried by a Santa on his overloaded sleight, driven by his overworked  Rudolfs and as if by magic the presents somehow end up under the Christmas tree.

Christmas Day Lunch/Dinner. The big family tradition! The one meal in the year where all the (close) family sit together and celebrate the family (in theory!).

‘Turkey & Trimmings’. Similar to the Sunday lunch, but on Christmas day the meat is usually Turkey filled with ‘stuffing’. The vegetables, gravy and Yorkshire puds are commonly known as the trimmings. For dessert, there’s traditionally the Christmas pudding with a rum (white) sauce as well as trifle & minced pies. Check out https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk, if you wanna look up and maybe buy some of those Christmas yummies.

Christmas Cracker – It is paper tube, which is pulled open by two people (each holding one end of the cracker). Everyone has one on their Christmas lunch plate. What happens? You hopefully hear a small bang, receive a silly joke, a small present and a wonderful coloured paper hat to wear during the lunch! A must do!!!

Boxing Day – 26 Dec. For the umpteenth time, it doesn’t have anything to do with the sport ‘Boxing’! In the past Rich people would give their servants & employees a Christmas Box with presents, money, and even leftovers. Nowadays people hit the sales or the football matches.

The vid of the week by Anglophenia “How to have a British Christmas” gives you the chance to see everything you read above from cracker to Christmas pudding. Enjoy!

to speed by (hier: vorbeirauschen), artificial (künstlich), baubles (Weihnachtskügel), tinsel (Lametta), angle (Engel), to perch (hier: etw auf etw stellen), mulled wine (Glühwein), to wind down (entspannen), stocking (Strumpf), bygone times (vergangene Zeiten), to rekindle sth (wieder aufleben lassen), consumption (Konsum), sleight (Schlitten), ‘Turkey & Trimmings’ (Truthahn & mit allem Drum und Dran), gravy (Bratensauce), ‘stuffing’ (Kräuterfüllung), dessert (Nachtisch), minced pies (süßes Weihnachtsgebäck), yummies (Leckereien), for the umpteenth time (zum zigsten Male), servant (Diener), employee (Arbeitnehmer), leftovers (Essensreste)

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert