Some English Christmas Terms

Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The holiday is also commonly celebrated by non-Christian and non-religious people. The Muslim holiday Ramadan, the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, and the African American holiday Kwanzaa are also celebrated in December.

Christmas Day falls on the 25th of December, around the same time as the winter solstice, when we have the longest night and the shortest day.

Captions 11-13, Holidays and Seasons with Sigrid: Sights and Scents at Christmastime

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The timing of many December holidays has roots in pagan winter solstice festivals.

Melchior took gold, Gaspar, frankincense, and Balthazar, myrrh.

Caption 13, Children's Books Read Aloud: The Story of the Three Wise Kings

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Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar were kings who, according to the Christian Bible, visited the infant Christ with gifts. Frankincense and myrrh are aromatic wood resins that can be used in the making of perfumes. Today, these may not seem as valuable as gold, but in the ancient world, they were considered to be treasures worthy of royalty.

You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Caption 17, A Charlie Brown Christmas: True Meaning

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"Swaddling" is an antiquated word meaning strips of cloth, which in the old days were used to keep babies warm and restrict their movements. Today, it's almost exclusively used when referring to clothes worn by the infant Jesus. A "manger" is a box used in a stable to feed animals, but in the case of Jesus, his parents Mary and Joseph were so poor that they used a manger as a crib.

So just keep kissing me under the mistletoe...

Caption 20, Ed Sheeran: Merry Christmas ft. Elton John

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To get to some less religious Christmas traditions: Mistletoe is a plant with green leaves and berries, which is often found hanging above doorways at Christmas parties. Couples who find themselves standing under it are encouraged to kiss. Apparently, mistletoe was a fertility symbol in ancient times!

This is a traditional milk-based holiday drink. -What is eggnog? -Correct!

Caption 83, Delta's Holiday: In-Flight Safety Video

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Eggnog is indeed a milk-based drink that is traditionally offered during the Christmas holiday, but best beware: it tastes deceptively mild but may contain more alcohol than you expected!

And every mother's child is gonna spy to see if reindeer really know how to fly.

Captions 12-13, Clean Bandit: Christmas Special

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The legendary figure of Santa Claus soars through the night skies in a sleigh powered by magical flying reindeer, delivering presents to children around the world. A reindeer is a type of deer found in the far northern regions of Europe, Russia, and the Americas. Sorry to have to say this, but  reindeer can't actually fly!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose.

Captions 4-5, Minidisco: Cartoons

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Rudolph is the most famous of Santa's reindeer, and he has the extra special magical power of a bright red glowing nose, which according to Christmas lore, helps light the way for Santa's sled on dark and stormy nights. This story first originated in a book in 1939.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Further Learning
Watch the videos above and search Yabla English for "Christmas" to find some more vocabulary related to the holiday. And regardless of your beliefs or non-beliefs, we at Yabla wish you all happy holidays!