Newtonmas

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Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist, recommends celebrate Newtonmas on December 25th and ten extra days representing the interval between Newton's birth dates on the Julian and Gregorian calendars.

2008 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The 10 Days of Newton”, in The New York Times:

(humorous) December 25 through January 4, Isaac Newton's birthday (in the Gregorian calendar).


Green Monday

Synonym of Clean Monday, in Cyprus, the seventh Monday before Easter, used as the beginning of Lent in Greek Orthodoxy.


Green Monday

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From green in its sense of “environmentally friendly”.

(US, marketing) The Monday before Christmas, used as a shopping event to order last-minute gifts for shipping before Christmas Day.


Laetare Sunday

From Latin Laetare (“Rejoice!”), the first word of the introit of the day's mass, traditionally a Latin translation of Isaiah 66:10.

Mothering Sunday
Mothering Sunday#English

(Roman Catholicism) Synonym of Mothering Sunday: the fourth Sunday of Lent.


Twelfthtide

Twelfth tide (alternative)
Twelfth-tide (alternative)

Plough Monday, next after that Twelftide is past, / bids out with the plough, the woorst husband is last. / If ploughman get hatchet or whip to the skreene, / maides loseth their cock if no water be seene.

1580, Thomas Tusser, “The Ploughmans Feasting Daies”, in W[illiam H.] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. … The Edition of 1580 Collated with those of 1573 and 1577. Together with a Reprint, from the Unique Copy in the British Museum, of “A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie,” 1557 (Series D., Miscellaneous; vol. 8, nr. 21), London: Printed for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., 57 and 59, Ludgate Hill, published 1878, →OCLC, page 180:

The Earl of Shrewsbury to Sir John Talbot. […] Therefore I will propose all the ways that I can think of and desire your opinion which is the safest, whether by a coach that often passes by here in its way to London, but the inconvenience of that is that it goes no more till towards Twelfthtide, or else by my own horses either publicly or privately, or else post.

1678 December 14, Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Report on the Manuscripts of the Duke of Bucculech & Queensberry, K.G., K.T., Preserved at Montagu House, Whitehall (Cd. 930), volume II, part 1 (The Shrewsbury Papers), London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office by Mackie & Co. Ld., published 1903, →OCLC, page 28:

The custom of eating twelfth cake, and especially of drawing for king and queen, on the Epiphany, or twelfth day, or twelfth tide, or old Christmas day (January 6), as it is variously termed, is antique. In the ancient Calendar of the Romish Church, is an observation on the fifth day of January, the vigil of the Epiphany, "Kings created or elected by beans;" and the sixth is called "The Festival of Kings," with the additional remark, "that the ceremony of electing kings was continued with feasting for many days."

1828 December 20, “Popular Superstitions. [Chapter II. The New Year.]”, in The Extractor; or Universal Repertorium of Literature, Science, and Arts: Comprehending, under One General Arrangement, the Whole of the Instructive and Amusing Articles from All the Reviews, Magazines, and Journals. The Whole Carefully Compiled, Digested, and Methodised, volume I, number VIII, London: Printed for the proprietor, and published at The Extractor Office, 150, Fleet Street, →OCLC, page 280:

The cost of the Revels at Christmas, New-year-tide, Twelfth-tide and Shrovetide, all falling within the four months from the end of October, 1573, to the beginning of March, 1573–4, was 672l. 14s. 2d.: it included the expenses of preparations, &c., for plays and masks (each mask having its torchbearers), a list of which, as performed at Christmas, New-year-tide, and Twelfth-tide, is given as follows, in the account of the Office of the Auditors of the Imprest.

1831, J[ohn] Payne Collier, “Annals of the Stage, from the Year 1558 to the Year 1575”, in The History of English Dramatic Poetry to the Time of Shakespeare: and Annals of the Stage to the Restoration, volume I, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, →OCLC, page 207:

SUPERNATURAL BEINGS OF TWELFTHTIDE. In the greater part of the north of Germany the belief is not yet wholly defunct, particularly among the peasantry, of the wandering of certain supernatural beings during the twelve days of Christmas; […]

1852, “North German Customs and Superstitions”, in Benjamin Thorpe, compiler, Northern Mythology, Comprising the Principal Popular Traditions and Superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany and the Netherlands. Compiled from Original and Other Sources, … In Three Volumes, volumes III (North German and Netherlandish Popular Traditions and Superstitions), London: Edward Lumley, Southampton Street, Bloomsbury Square, →OCLC, page 153:

[T]he highlight of medieval Twelfthtide festivities was the food, where a variety of meats, sweets, and drinks were served.

2010, Michele Sinclair, chapter 4, in The Christmas Knight (Zebra Historical Romance), New York, N.Y.: Zebra Books, →ISBN:

Vevčani has held a Twelfthtide carnival on 13 and 14 January every year since the middle of the 6th century. The 12 days after Christmas, which in the Orthodox calendar is on 7 January, are meant to be a time when evil spirits are at their most active with regards to wreaking havoc on the coming year.

2012 May, Thammy Evans, “Pelagonia, Prespa and Pelister”, in Macedonia: The Bradt Travel Guide, 4th edition, Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire: Bradt Travel Guides, →ISBN, page 200:

(archaic or obsolete) The season including Epiphany (the twelfth day after Christmas) and the evening of the preceding day (Twelfth Night), regarded as the end of the Christmas season; Epiphany itself.


fairy lights

en-noun

fairy lights pl (normally plural, singular fairy light)

Through the trees ahead came odd strains from the dance band in the Casino, and now I could see many twinkling fairy lights and detect moving figures.

1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page i. 13:

I managed to put quite a lot of small baubles on the top of the tree that way and helped drape the long string of fairy lights around it, […]

2010, Trisha Ashley, Twelve Days of Christmas, HarperCollins, →ISBN:

A constant, slightly defocused, dinner party with relaxed glamorous friends, carrying on just outside the kitchen door, under the fairy lights.

2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:

(UK, Ireland) Small electric lights on a strand which are used decoratively, especially on Christmas trees.


New Year's

From New Year + -'s. Possibly influenced by New Year's Day and New Year's Eve, or by phrases such as New Year's celebrations.

We spent last New Year's at her parent's house.

Every New Year's at least one of our windows gets broken.

The holiday commemorating (the beginning of) the new year.


Twelfth Night

Twelfe Night, Or vvhat you vvill. [title of play]

c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, page 255:

Christmas goes out in fine style,—with Twelfth Night. It is a finish worthy of the time. Christmas Day was the morning of the season; New Year's Day the middle of it, or noon; Twelfth Night is the night, brilliant with innumerable planets of Twelfth-cakes. […] Many a pleasant Twelfth Night have we passed in our time; and such future Twelfth Nights as may remain to us shall be pleasant, God and good-will permitting: for even if care should be round about them, we have no notion of missing these mountain-tops of rest and brightness, on which people may refresh themselves during the stormiest parts of life's voyage.

1840, Leigh Hunt, “XLVIII.—Twelfth Night. A Street Portrait. Shakespeare's Play, Recollections of a Twelfth Night.”, in The Seer; or, Common-places Refreshed. By Leigh Hunt. In Two Parts, volume I, London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street, →OCLC, pages 31–32:

Twelfth-Night, so called from its being the conclusion of the twelve days of Christmas, is one of the Christian versions of those natural winter holidays, which have prevailed from times the most ancient, and which are the instinctive result of the necessity which is felt for a double portion of joy and sociality at so inclement a time. […] [T]he imagination which books and Twelfth-Nights have helped to cultivate, is a great paymaster. We sit here, by our fire-side, and think of all the nights of this description which we have enjoyed; and very young and robust are we, while so thinking.

1854 January 1, Leigh Hunt, “Twelfth Night”, in The Musical Times, and Singing Class Circular, volume V, number 116, London: London Sacred Music Warehouse, J[oseph] Alfred Novello, music seller […], →OCLC, pages 314–315:

We even discover in the Saturnalia of the Romans, revels which are almost identical with those of Twelfth Night. It is to be regretted, my dear, that we should be so neglectful of the celebration of this day. As a holiday, it is scarcely remembered among us [in the United States], though in England it is still carefully observed, and the pastry-cooks' shops on this night are crowded with cakes, ornamented with many quaint and dainty devices. The Twelfth Night cake is an institution, which, even in this country, should not be allowed to crumble to pieces.

1872, Barry Gray, Cakes and Ale at Woodbine; from Twelfth Night to New Year's Day, New York, N.Y., Cambridge, Mass.: Hurd and Houghton; The Riverside Press, →OCLC, page 8:

Alton has two Twelfth Night festivals, one in the Christian Hill district's Riverview Park and the other in the Middletown area's Haskell Park. The Christmas trees of neighborhood residents are piled high and then ignited – under the watchful eye of the Alton Fire Department, of course. Why burn Christmas trees on Twelfth Night? The most popular explanation is that the blaze of burning evergreens symbolizes the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. […] The tradition continued for a few more Twelfth Nights but, without its founder's participation, gradually lost popularity and was discontinued. It was reestablished in 1980 and enjoys an even greater level of popularity […]

2010, John J. Dunphy, From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois, Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, →ISBN, pages 128 and 130:

Twelve Days of Christmas
Twelve Days of Christmas

A Christian festival marking the coming of Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas, traditionally falling on the evening of January 5 (i.e., on the eve of Twelfth Day, January 6), but also sometimes defined as falling on the evening of January 6 (i.e., on the evening of Twelfth Day itself).


king cake

king cake (countable and uncountable, plural king cakes)

king cakes (plural)
kingcake (alternative)
king's cake (alternative)
kings' cake (alternative)

Probably a calque of French galette des rois (literally “galette of the kings”), meaning the three Magi who visited the baby Jesus at Epiphany.

calque

A pretty superstition was also connected with the King's Cake. The lucky finder of the pecan, or bean, or ring, which was hidden within was henceforth to be favored by fortune. The queen cut the bean in two, and gave half of it to her king, and so, if a gentleman found it. The lucky bean was faithfully preserved as a talisman, and in many an old Creole family to-day there is carefully preserved a little shriveled amulet which was found in the Gateau du Roi on Twelfth Night.

1901, “Twelfth Night or King's Cake. Gateau du Roi.”, in The Picayune's Creole Cook Book, 2nd edition, New Orleans, La.: The Picayune, →OCLC, pages 314–315:

In New Orleans, Twelfth Night is the beginning of the Mardi Gras season. The New Orleans Twelfth Night Cake or King Cake, as it is usually called today, is a traditional sweet yeast bread served on Twelfth Night and during the Mardi Gras season. The New Orleans King Cake is shaped to form a crown, and it is decorated with the traditional Mardi Gras colors using gold, purple, and green sugar. A bean or a small china doll was traditionally baked in the cake, but today a small plastic baby is usually hidden in the cake instead.

2003, Marcia [G.] Gaudet, “The New Orleans King Cake in Southwest Louisiana”, in Marcia Gaudet, James C. McDonald, editors, Mardi Gras, Gumbo, and Zydeco: Readings in Louisiana Culture, Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN, page 48:

Local custom dictates that Carnival has its official beginning when a debutante at her “coming out” ball finds a golden bean in her slice of king cake at the Twelfth Night Revelers’ Ball.

2006, Louise McKinney, New Orleans: A Cultural History, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 222:

King cakes, rich briochelike delicacies, make their appearance on 6 January, or Twelfth Night, and herald the beginning of the Carnival season in New Orleans.

2007, Susan Tucker, “King Cakes”, in John T. Edge, editor, Foodways (The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture; 7), Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 190:

Finally, as Mardi Gras draws to a close, the parade-weary, traffic-stressed, kingcake-bloated population of New Orleans is relieved to welcome the onset of the next season—Lent.

2011, Yvonne Spear Perret, “Season According to Taste”, in Yat Wit: Chicken Gumbo for the New Orleans Soul, Gretna, New Orleans, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 69:

People eat king cake for Mardi Gras. A king cake is filled with cinnamon, fruit, or cream cheese. A small toy baby is placed inside the cake. It symbolizes the baby Jesus, from Christianity. One person gets the piece of cake with the baby. He or she buys the next king cake or throws the next party.

2014, Julie Murray, “King Cake”, in Mardi Gras (A Buddy Book), Minneapolis, Minn.: ABDO Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 18:

And this year, just outside New Orleans, a tire shop that for as long as anyone can remember sold only car parts has become a bustling marketplace offering king cakes, the delicacy of the Carnival season, in just about any conceivable flavor.

2024 February 12, Rick Rojas, “Outside New Orleans, a New Mardi Gras Experience: The King Cake Drive-Thru”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

(Louisiana) A decorative cake distributed among friends or visitors on Epiphany. In many traditions it contains a pea, a trinket or some other small object which entitles its finder to be the "king" for one day.


Blitzen

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First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Named from Dutch bliksem (“lightning”), and perhaps influenced by the German form Blitz.

Blixen (alternative)
Blixem (alternative)

The eighth and last reindeer of Santa Claus.

A Visit from St. Nicholas
Santa Claus's reindeer


Friendsgiving

en-noun

Friendsgiving (countable and uncountable, plural Friendsgivings)

That means a holiday traditionally celebrated with family could be a very lonely affair. But, never fear, this year discover the joy of a “Friendsgiving”—a Thanksgiving with friends.

2011 November 22, Alyce Gilligan, “Happy Friendsgiving”, in Relevant, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2013-02-07:

I would like to thank my friends, who make Friendsgiving the best holiday of the year.

2012, Cash Costello, Elgg 1.8 Social Networking, Birmingham: Packt Publishing, →ISBN, page 9:

Palardy, who has a learning disability and deals with medical challenges, was one of more than two dozen from the Best Buddies club — or about four tables full — who came together for a special "Friendsgiving" Italian meal in Lenox at Trottoria Il Vesuvio in a special acknowledgment of thanks to friendship shortly before Thanksgiving.

2012 November 18, John Sakata, “'Friendsgiving' celebrates friends with Pittsfield students”, in The Berkshire Eagle, →ISSN:

A Thanksgiving feast held by and for someone's friends.


Low Sunday

Likely in contrast to the solemnity of the preceding Easter Sunday.

(ecclesiastical) The Sunday following Easter.


Imbolc

Uncertain; common explanations include the following:
* From Old Irish i mbolg (“in the belly”), referring to pregnant ewes.
* From Old Irish imb-fholc (“to cleanse or wash oneself”), referring to a ritual cleansing.
* Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to milk; milk”), though the connection between the milking of animals and the festival is not clear. Some descendants of this root have meanings related to cleansing (for example, Persian مالیدن (mâlidan, “to rub, smear”), Sanskrit मर्जति (marjati, “to clean, wipe”)), so the root could also have the sense of purification.

noncog

[T]hat the ancient Irish, at some remote period, did divide the year into the three seasons of Samh, summer, Gamh, winter, and Imbolc, spring (omitting the Foghmhar, or autumn), is quite evident from the fact, that Cormac Mac Cuileannain and the other old glossarists, explain Samhain, or November eve, by Samh, summer, and fuin, the end; that is, the end of Samh, or summer.

1862 June 10, Eugene O’Curry, “Lecture XXX. [Of Music and Musical Instruments in Ancient Erinn.]”, in W. K. Sullivan, editor, On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish. A Series of Lectures, volume III (Lectures, Vol. II), London, Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate; Dublin: W. B. Kelly; New York, N.Y.: Scribner, Welford, & Co., published 1873, →OCLC, page 217:

Invite, but never command, friendly spirits, faeries, or elementals to join you as you wish. In some traditons it is common to invite ancestors to join you, especially during the dark days from Samhain to Imbolg when it is believed that the portal between our dimensions is at its thinnest.

1994, Edain McCoy, “Appendix Three: Outline for Ritual Construction”, in A Witch’s Guide to Faery Folk: How to Work with the Elemental World: […], St. Paul, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, published 2004 (13th printing), →ISBN, page 354:

In the Celtic world many celebrations were built around the ancient calendar of events or great feasts. The four great feasts of the year were Samhain (1st November), Imbolg (1st February), Bealtaine (1st May) and Lughnasa (1st August). Notice that each of the feasts begins each of the four seasons of the year – winter, spring, summer and autumn.

2002, Liam Lawton, “How Can I Repay the Lord”, in Song of My People, Dublin: Veritas Publications, →ISBN, page 28:

The Festival of Imbolc commences on February eve, or January 31, and usually concludes on February 2. Imbolc has three major associations: the veneration of fire and water, the quickening of new life in the womb, and the lactation of ewes. The association of Imbolc with fire comes from its place as the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox.

2007, Judy Ann Nock, “Season Three: Imbolc: First Light in the Dark of Winter”, in The Provenance Press Guide to the Wiccan Year: Spells, Rituals, Holiday Celebrations, Avon, Mass.: Provenance Press, Adams Media, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN:

Never leave incense, candles, or anything else burning when you are not in the room to ensure you will be around for many more Imbolcs to come.

2015, Carl F. Neal, Imbolc: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for Brigid’s Day (Llewellyn’s Sabbat Essentials), Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Publishers, →ISBN:

Brigid has also been described in relation to the different cycles as the Earth Mother. […] In another version of the Threshold Rites, a sheaf of wheat from the Samhain harvest was placed outside doors of homes on the eve of January 31. Some believed that the Goddess was present in the sheaf in her winter Cailleach form. Upon Imbolc, the sheaf becomes the infant Goddess Brigid once again, marking the fragile beginnings of the new agricultural cycle.

2015, Courtney Weber, “Imbolc: Brigid the Springtime Goddess, the Mother, and the Midwife”, in Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, San Francisco, Calif.: Weiser Books, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, page 149:

(British, Ireland) A Gaelic and Wiccan festival celebrated on 1 or 2 February which marks the beginning of spring.

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Penguin Books
University of Wales Press

聖布里吉德節 /圣布里吉德节

Gaelic and Wiccan festival which marks the beginning of spring

Yule • Imbolc • Ostara • Beltane • Litha • Lammas


Ostara

Borrowed from reconstructed Old High German *Ôstara (German Ostern, Cimbrian Oastarn, Mòcheno Oastern, Hunsrik Oostre, Luxembourgish Ouschteren, East Central German Ustern). Related to English Easter, which see for some more information.

bor

A pagan and Wiccan holiday celebrating the spring equinox, sometimes also called Eostre or Easter.


Chrismukkah

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Etymology tree
English Christmasblend.
English Hanukkahblend.
English Chrismukkah
Blend of Christmas + Hanukkah.
A similar formation can be found in German Weihnukka (from Weihnachten (“Christmas”)), and compare also Dutch Chanoeklaas, a merger of Hanukkah and the Dutch winter holiday of Sinterklaas which similarly involvies gift-giving.

etymon

Kimberly Duran of DallasNews.com, for example, referenced restaurants that served Chrismukkah foods in 2005 when Hanukkah and Christmas coincided.

2012, Joshua Eli Plaut, A Kosher Christmas: 'Tis the Season to be Jewish, page 147:

Celebrating both holidays is nothing new. But the TV show “The O.C.” helped popularize a term for it when the character Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody) celebrated “Chrismukkah” in an episode in 2003.

2024 December 21, Remy Tumin, Claire Moses, “This Chrismukkah, Latkes and Eggnog Go Together”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

The merged holiday of Christmas and Hanukkah.


Forefathers' Day

A holiday celebrated in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on December 22, to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620.


didukh

didukhs (plural)
didukhy (plural)
diduch (alternative)

Borrowed from Ukrainian діду́х (didúx, “grandfather spirit”).

bor

Before the meal begins the head of the household brings in a sheaf of wheat called the Didukh (from grandfather), a symbol of good harvest, which is usually placed in front of an icon.

1994, Jo Marie Powers, “Ukrainian-Canadian Breads: Shape, Symbolism and Spirituality”, in Harlan Walker, editor, Look and Feel: Studies in Texture, Appearance and Incidental Characteristics of Food, page 150:

The didukh is a sheaf of grain made from the best wheat or grain of the field. It is decorated with flowers, ribbons, a small wreath of sweet basil and other herbs, or an embroidered towel. At Christmas, the didukh is carried into the home amid traditional greetings of "Christ is born!"

1997, Ann Ball, Catholic Traditions in the Garden, page 79:

The spirits of all family members, living and dead, are believed to reside in the didukh, which also symbolizes eternal life through Christ, the fertility of the land, and bread as the staff of life.

2013, William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, 3rd edition, Ukraine, page 420:

A Ukrainian Christmas decoration representing an offering of the best of the harvest, and consisting of wheat ears or stalks tied up with colorful threads.

дзіду́х

a Ukrainian Christmas sheaf of wheat used in rituals around Christmas and Epiphany traditionally believed to contain ancestor spirits


midnight mass

en-noun

midnight mass (countable and uncountable, plural midnight masses)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-midnightmass.wav

(in particular) A Roman Catholic religious service that marks the beginning of Christmas Day.


Santaphobia

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You've done it again. It's practically Christmas Eve, and you haven't bought a single present. What's with you? Santaphobia?

1997 December 9, Anne Stockwell, Alan Frutkin, “More stuff for your stockings”, in The Advocate, page 66:

"The reason people dread Christmas — Santaphobia — is that it is a time of tradition, a time that arouses all kinds of memories," said Dr. Ponce.

1999, "Christmas scares the HELL out of millions of Americans", Weekly World News (satire), 21 December 1999, page 30

Even with 3 poses, it's not always easy to get a "natural" look. This one is the best we could manage. When we say "smile" to the kids they really exaggerate it. You can see that Delanie still hadn't gotten over her Santaphobia.

2002 December 23, © Mike, “Trio Visits Santa”, in alt.fan.mark-brian (Usenet):

(humorous) The fear of Santa Claus or Christmas.


Qingming

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 清明 (Qīngmíng, literally “Pure & Bright”).

bor

Chingming (alternative)
Ching Ming (alternative)
Ching-ming (alternative)
Ch'ing-ming (alternative)
Ch'ing Ming (alternative)
Qing Ming (alternative)
Tsing Ming (alternative)

Although the Hui in the northwest do not celebrate the Han holidays of Zhongqiu, Qingming, or even Chun Jie (Spring Festival), the Hui in most of China's cities gladly participate.

2020, Dru C. Gladney, Muslim Chinese..., page 192:

Tomb Sweeping Day
Tomb Sweeping Day#English

(chiefly China) Synonym of Tomb Sweeping Day, a Chinese holiday observed on that day.


Tomb Sweeping Day

From its former Chinese name 掃墳節 /扫坟节 (Sǎofénjié, “Sweep-Tomb Festival”), from the traditional act of cleaning one's family grave with willow branches during the holiday.

Tomb-Sweeping Day (alternative)
Tomb Sweeping Festival (alternative)

An annual Chinese holiday on the first day of the fifth solar term in the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar (April 4 or 5), during which families gather to honor their ancestors and clean their tombs. The festival is also associated with the consumption of qingtuan.


Feast of Light

From the importance of candles or light in the celebration.

1940, Emily Solis-Cohen, Jr., Hanukkah: The Feast of Light, Jewish Publication Society:

We celebrate Hanukkah, the Feast of Light, in commemoration of the Maccabees' putting an end to the sinister oppression [...]

1942, Jewish Spectator, volume 7, page 46:

Chanukah recounts the rededication of the Sanctuary which had been despoiled by the Greeks. The celebration of the eight-day Feast of Light recalls the victorious survival of the Sanctuary, not the courage of the Maccabees.

1997, The collected writings, volume 7, →ISBN, page 200:

(Judaism) Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.


Slavi

From Russian сла́вы (slávy, “praises”), plural of сла́ва (sláva, “glory”), from Proto-Slavic *slàva (“fame; glory”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”).

Following are three recipes for the large size pie – piroghi – one a very large size pie which the cook, Marlene Johnson of Naknek, says is excellent for "Slavi time."

1983, Cooking Alaskan, Anchorage, Ak.: Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 80:

Church functions such as the Moravian Song Fests and the Russian Orthodox Christmas ("Slavi") provide opportunities for social gatherings and visiting among residents of the communities.

1986 June, “Affected Environment”, in Togiak National Wildlife Refuge: Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan, Wildnerness Review, and Environmental Impact Statement, Anchorage, Ak.: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7, United States Department of the Interior, →OCLC, page 96:

Thousands of Alaskans joined believers around the world this week in celebrating Russian Orthodox Christmas. The ‘Slavi’ celebration follows the old Julian calendar, with Christmas Day on January 7. Festivities last several days as church groups visit relatives and friends, singing traditional carols and enjoying plates of food at each stop.

2016 January 8, Hannah Colton, “Nushagak Villages Celebrate Orthodox Christmas”, in KDLG: Public Radio for Alaska’s Bristol Bay, archived from the original on 2016-02-17:

Russian Orthodox
Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated from January 6 through 13 in outstate Alaska, USA, wherever there is a sizable Russian Orthodox population.


Guy Fawkes Day

A number of towns in East Sussex, and on the borders of Kent and Surrey, make a special feature of huge bonfires and torchlight processions with fireworks on Guy Fawkes day or an early November Saturday.

1953 January, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 68:

Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night#English

(UK) Synonym of Guy Fawkes Night, the associated revelry, traditionally including bonfires, fireworks, and the burning in effigy of the pope, Guy Fawkes, and/or the Devil.


Ded Moroz

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Borrowed from Russian Дед Моро́з (Ded Moróz, “Old Man Frost”).

A fictional man in Slavic culture who delivers presents to children on New Year's Eve.


Black Peter

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The companion of Saint Nicholas in Dutch folklore, depicted as a blackamoor.


Small Business Saturday

(US, marketing) The Saturday after Thanksgiving, promoted as a day for shopping at local small businesses


Krampus

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Krampus.wav

A beast in the folklore of Alpine countries, said to punish misbehaving children during the Christmas season.


happy Hanukkah

happy Hanukkah ! (canonical)
happy Chanukah (alternative)
happy Hanukah (alternative)

Used to express good wishes on or before Hanukkah.


Stir-up Sunday

From the opening words of the collect for the 25th Sunday after Trinity in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549 and later (a translation of the Roman Missal's collect "Excita, quæsumus"): "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people..."

(informal, Anglicanism) The last Sunday before the season of Advent, on which families traditionally gather in their kitchens to prepare Christmas pudding.


bah humbug

/bɑː ˈhʌmbʌɡ/

/ˌbɑ ˈhʌmˌbʌɡ/

A Christmas Carol
Chapman & Hall
Charles Dickens
Ebenezer Scrooge
Jacob Marley

From bah (interjection expressing contempt, disgust, or bad temper) + humbug (“balderdash!, nonsense!, rubbish!”). The words were originally spoken by the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the novella A Christmas Carol (1843) by English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870).

Honor!—bah! humbug! Patriotism!—pshaw! / Are we to be bamboozled by such guys?

1848 January 22, “Important Official Documents”, in The John-Donkey, volume I, number IV, New York, N.Y.: Published and supplied by George Dexter, Burgess, Stringer & Co., W. H. Graham, R. G. Berford & Co. [et al.], →OCLC, page 126, column 2:

Only a modern Scrooge could say, "Bah, Humbug," where helping people to get enough to eat is concerned. Well, we are not going to argue that food aid has never filled an empty stomach or saved a dying child—but we will contend, in the case of the United States at least, that it has done so only inadvertently.

1976, Susan George, “Food Aid? … Or Weapon?”, in How the Other Half Dies: The Real Reasons for World Hunger, Harmondsworth, London; New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books; reprinted Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1989, page 164

[O]nce you understand why Bah Humbug is a good term, you will see that it is going to become packed with a biblical position that could warrant every Christian to mindfully say "Bah Humbug" about the Christmas Holiday, and know what it is they are meaning. Bah Humbug is going to work succinctly.

2012, C. Matthew McMahon, Therese B. McMahon, “Scrooge Had It Right, but for the Wrong Reasons”, in Bah Humbug: How Christians Should Think about the Christmas Holiday, Coconut Creek, Fla.: Puritan Publications, →ISBN, pages 5–6:

(humorous) Expressing cynicism, disillusionment or distrustfulness; and specifically a dislike of Christmas and its celebrations and festivities.


stocking filler

en-noun

stocking filler (plural stocking fillers)

stocking fillers (plural)
stocking-filler (alternative)

A small present given at Christmas to go in a stocking


Octoberfest

Octoberfests (plural)
Oktoberfest (alternative)

From October + -fest, after German Oktoberfest.

Even though it is not yet October, the Hingham Lutheran Church held its annual Octoberfest today, complete with a full spread of German food and beer and an authentic Umpah band ("King Ludwig's German Band").

2008, Ronald B. Schram, Caroline and Papa: Growing Up and Growing Older:

The Bavarian holiday (Oktoberfest or Wiesn), or any such holiday, celebrated in late September to early October, typically featuring German music, cuisine, and beer-drinking as prominent activities.


Patriots' Day

(US) A civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. It was previously celebrated on April 19, but since 1969 has been observed on the third Monday in April.


quindene

From Medieval Latin quindena, from Latin quīndēnī (“15 each”), from the distributive form of quīndecim (“15”). It is used for a period of 14 days owing to the Roman and medieval practice of counting inclusively.

(chiefly Christianity) The 14th day after a festival.


Giftmas

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(humorous or derogatory) Christmas, regarded as a consumerist event for the purchasing of gifts


half term

half terms (plural)
half-term (alternative)

I have just visited him at his mother's home where he is spending half term and we reminisced while looking at his photo album.

Georgia's not a very good correspondent, which is perfectly reasonable at her age, but she didn't come down for half term and then she didn't come for Easter either.

2011, Marcia Willett, Hattie's Mill, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

“Good idea. The boy seems to be coping quite well, although I had a feeling he wasn't too happy about spending half term in Crete with his old grandpa."

2011, Patricia Fenn, Poseidon's Trident, Andrews UK Limited, →ISBN:

"We had an extraordinary February half term - I think we had 22,000 visitors in the seven days. Which actually is a bit like bedlam at times."

2020 June 3, Sam Mullins OBE discusses with Stefanie Foster, “LTM: a new chapter begins at 40”, in Rail, page 54:

(UK) A short school holiday in the middle of the term.


Matariki

Borrowed from Maori Matariki, in turn derived from Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matafiti, Proto-Eastern Polynesian *matasiti
One Maori folk etymology claims it represents ngā + mata + o + te + ariki + o + Tāwhirimātea, meaning "the eyes of the [wind] god Tāwhirimātea". In Māori legend, the Pleiades star cluster which it is named after was from Tāwhirimātea's plucked eyes.
Cognate with Hawaiian makahiki.

af

The season, in late May or early June, when the Pleiades star cluster first rises, treated as the beginning of the new year by the Maori.


Reformation Sunday

In Protestant churches, a commemoration of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, observed on the last Sunday in October (from Reformation Day, which was originally 31 October 1517).


spoopy

en-adj

spoopy (comparative more spoopy, superlative most spoopy)

more spoopy (comparative)
most spoopy (superlative)

A photograph of a Halloween sign with the misspelled word “spoopy” (for “spooky”), taken in 2009 and originally uploaded to Flickr, was reposted on Tumblr in 2011, upon which the word become an Internet meme and developed its current sense.

To get into the spoopy spirit, you will exclusively listen to the “Spooky Scary Skeletons” trap remix on repeat from now until Halloween.

2016 October 27, Derek Baker, “Your future is foretold in these spooky horror-scopes”, in The Guantlet, page 17:

It's spoopy season — a time for pumpkin carving, trick or treating and “Hocus Pocus” reruns.

2018 October 24, Amelia Calautti, “Get goosebumps with 'Netflix and Chills'”, in The Rice Thresher, page 8:

Unfortunately, tricks, treats and spoopy shenanigans aren't the only things escalating in the runup to Halloween.

2018 October 29, Sara Serrano, “Where have all the cats gone?”, in The Collegian, page 14:

(Internet slang) Calling upon horror tropes and concepts in cute, nonthreatening or comical ways.


Hanukkah bush

Hanukkah bushes (plural)
Chanukah bush (alternative)
Hanukah bush (alternative)

A Jewish substitute for a Christmas tree formerly commonly used in North America during the holiday season.


first-foot

en-noun

first-foot (plural first-foots or first-feet)

first-foots (plural)
first-feet (plural)

(Northern England, Scotland) The first person to enter the home of a household on New Year's Day.

მეკვლე

first person to enter the home of a household on New Year’s Day


white Christmas slice

white Christmas slice (plural white Christmas slices)

This popular white Christmas slice has been given an Aussie flavour and named after the sulphur-crested cockatoo.

2006, R.I.C. Publications, An Aussie Christmas, page 46:

Describe the changes Cophaᵀᴹ (a shortening agent derived from coconut flesh) makes to the mixture when making White Christmas slice.

2008, Lee-Ann Holmes, Rhymes for big rascals, R.I.C. Publications, page 74:

This version is richer and creamier than regular White Christmas slice.

2011, Sally Wise, Leftover Makeovers: Quick and Fabulous Food From Your Fridge and Pantry, unnumbered page:

(Australia, cooking) A sweet food item made from dried fruits and nuts mixed with copha or white chocolate or similar sweet white binding and allowed to set in a tray to make slices.


X-Day

unconditional surrender
unconditional surrender

(historical) 1 November 1945, the planned date for the Allied invasion of Kyushu in southwestern Japan in World War II (cancelled following Japan's unconditional surrender in September 1945).


ho, ho, ho

A deep, hearty laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus.

ሆ ፣ ሆ ፣ ሆ

a laugh or chuckle, most associated with Santa Claus


Dasher

From dasher.
* (reindeer): First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.

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Dancer

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From dancer.
(reindeer): First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”


Prancer

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First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From prancer.


Vixen

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First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From vixen.


Comet

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From comet.

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Giving Tuesday

(US, marketing) The Tuesday after Thanksgiving Weekend, promoted as a day for donations, after the consumerism of Black Friday/Black Week/Cyber Monday


Thanksgivukkah

Blend of Thanksgiving + Hanukkah. Coined for 2013, when the first day of Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving.

We’re still 24 hours away from Thanksgiving 2012, but it’s never too early to start thinking of next year, right? Apparently not, at least, not for the folks behind Thanksgivukkah. You see, next year Thanksgiving falls on the first night of Hanukkah, and well, “Thanksgiving” + “Hanukkah” = “Thanksgivukkah”. Get it?

2012 November 21, Rafiss, “Well, This Exists: Thanksgivukkah”, in Heeb:

Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah — the Jewish Festival of Lights — fall on the same day this year, creating what many celebrants have dubbed “Thanksgivukkah.” And it’s opened up a whole new world of culinary opportunities.

2013 October 21, Jim Romanoff, “Thanksgiving and Hanukkah — together at the table”, in Houston Chronicle:

The pairing of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah as Thanksgivukkah works so well, it raises the question among us daters -- why not pair up even more things in your life that can benefit you romantically?

2015, Mark Miller, 500 Dates: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Online Dating Wars, →ISBN:

My mother requested that I make sufganiyot" -- Hanukkah jelly doughnuts -- "and did hear that some people are filling them with cranberry jam, which I think is a great idea for Thansgivukkah," Bialik chuckled.

2016, Vance Lehmkuhl, V for Veg: The Best of Philly’s Vegan Food Column, →ISBN:

This recipe is based on one of my contributions to Thanksgivukkah that has lived on past all of that jazz.

2016, Molly Yeh, Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from an Unlikely Life on a Farm, →ISBN:

(Judaism, US) A combined celebration of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.


unholiday

Yet the most touching gifts are often the ones that come as unbirthday or unholiday or unanniverary gifts.

2013, Patricia Spadaro, Honor Yourself: The Inner Art of Giving and Receiving, →ISBN:

I guess this unholiday is exactly what we all needed today, she thought as she pulled into the driveway.

2014, Lorraine Turner, Calico Horses and the Patchwork Trail, →ISBN:

It being your unbirthday then you must be invited to boogie at the bank unholiday.

2015, Douglas Gilbert, Alice In Wunderkinderland With a Hedgehog, →ISBN:

Today we declare an unholiday. We'll take a break from all our play.

2015, Douglas Evans, Children's Games, page 122:

A day or period of time which is not a holiday, but is celebrated as if it were one.


en-verb

think<,,thought> all one's Christmases have come at once

think all one's Christmases have come at once (third-person singular simple present thinks all one's Christmases have come at once, present participle thinking all one's Christmases have come at once, simple past and past participle thought all one's Christmases have come at once)

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(informal) To be delighted with one's good fortune.


Twelfth Day

From the fact that Epiphany is the twelfth day after Christmas Day.

A Sermon preached by Maiſter Hugh Latimer on Tvvelfth day, at Grimſtrope. Anno. 1553.

1607, Hugh Latimer, “A Sermon Preached by Maister Hugh Latimer on Tvvelfth Day, at Grimstrope. Anno. 1553.”, in Fruitfull Sermons Preached by the Right Reuerend Father, and Constant Martyr of Iesus Christ, M. Hvgh Latimer, Newly Imprinted with Others not heeretofore set forth in Print, to the Edefying of All which will Dispose Themselues to the Reading of the Same. Seene and Allowed according to the Order Appointed in the Kings Maiestes Iniunctions, London: Printed [by William Jaggard] for the Company of Stationers, →OCLC, chapter title, page 290:

A Preſbyter of the Church of England has long officiated in a Meeting Houſe of this ſeceding deſcription, in London; but that is not all, he ordains too: […] But I would ſay both to the ordainer and the ordained, by what authority doſt thou theſe things, and who gave thee this authorty? […] [A]s to any legality to be derived from ſuch pretended orders, without the permiſſion I have alluded to, thoſe who draw Kings and Queens over a twelfth-day cake, have as good claims to the Crown of England!

1799, Edward Barry, The Friendly Call of Truth and Reason to a New Species of Dissenters, Reading, Berkshire: Printed for the author, and sold by Elmsley & Bremner, in the Strand, London; Smart & Cowslade, Reading, & all other booksellers, →OCLC, footnote, pages 12–13:

The Epiphany is called Twelfth Day, because it falls on the twelfth day after Christmas Day. Epiphany signifies Manifestation, and is applied to this day because it is the day whereon Christ was manifested to the Gentiles.

1828, William Pulleyn, “Section X. Eras, Months, Weeks, Days, &c.”, in The Etymological Compendium, or Portfolio of Origins and Inventions; …, London: Printed for Thomas Tegg, 73, Cheapside; Glasgow: R. Griffin and Co.; Dublin: J. Cumming, →OCLC, page 185:

It is indeed remarkable that the twelfth day nearly coincides in the time of the year with the Saturnalia; and Fosbrooke even finds that the king of the Saturnalia was elected, like the king of the twelfth night, by a bean. […] As all the various customs of different countries on this day concur in the common object of commemorating the visit of the three wise men, or kings, to the birthplace of Christ, a king is in some way or other always a conspicuous personage in the entertainments which take place. In France, previously to the revolution, this mode of celebrating twelfth day prevailed as well at court as among the people in general. At the former, one of the nobles was chosen king, and at the entertainment which followed, the twelfth-day monarch was attended by the king and courtiers.

1847, Robert Sears, “France”, in Scenes and Sketches in Continental Europe: Embracing Descriptions of France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland, together with Interesting Notices of Their Principal Cities and Towns. Carefully Prepared from the Best and Latest Sources, New York, N.Y.: Published by Robert Sears, 128 Nassau Street; J. S. Redfield, Clinton Hall, →OCLC, page 38:

[W]e fell into a discussion upon the merits of those family meetings which this season brought with it; and it was agreed that the celebration of Christmas, of New Year's and Twelfth-days, the birthday and saint's day of the head of the family, and other festivals, were favourable to the maintenance of domestic harmony, and were therefore worthy of being preserved.

1855, Duchess D'Abrantes (Madame Junot), chapter LXXVII, in Memoirs of Napoleon, His Court and Family. … In Two Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton and Company, 346 & 348 Broadway, →OCLC, page 533:

[…] Epiphany is a Christian feast, also known as Twelfth Day, as it is the twelfth day after Christmas. Traditionally, this coincides with the visit of the Magi. The day is marked by feasting and celebration.

2008, Susan Wiggs, “Epiphany”, in Snowfall at Willow Lake (The Lakeshore Chronicles; 4), Don Mills, Ont.: Mira Books, →ISBN:

(Christianity) Synonym of Epiphany (“an annual Christian feast on the twelfth day after Christmas Day (6 January) celebrating the appearance of Jesus Christ to the Magi”).


Belsnickel

Borrowed from Pennsylvania German Belsnickel.

bor+

[Describing a market scene of the 1780s] Spotted throughout the marketplace, too, were piles of greens—cedar and pine trees—awaiting purchase by the German burghers, who would dress them gaily in candles on Christmas Eve while their kinder watched—some quaking from fear of the Belsnickel Man, who was prone to seize and carry off in the dead of that very night all wee transgressors of the year just past.

1973, Samuel Redsecker II Slaymaker, Captives' Mansion: An American Family Chronicle Covering Nine Generations and Two Hundred Years in a Pennsylvania Rural Manor, Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 39:

A companion of St. Nicholas in some Germanophone regions, with various cultural roles, including rewarding well-behaved children with gifts and punishing ill-behaved children by corporal punishment or by spiriting them away from their homes. Homologous with Krampus in other regions.


Holy Friday

A barangay of Mallig, Isabela, Philippines.


Star of Bethlehem

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(biblical) The bright star in the Gospel of Matthew that lead the "wise men from the East" to travel to Bethlehem.


Lunar New Year

en-noun

Lunar New Year (countable and uncountable, plural Lunar New Years)

Photos obtained by CNN from an attendee at a village funeral in Cheng'an County in Hebei Province show mourners of all ages, including children, watching the performance.
The attendee, who asked not to be identified, said he was visiting family during the Lunar New Year holiday. While he was there, one of the elderly villagers died so he went to the funeral.

2015 April 24, Euan McKirdy, “What a send-off: China's funeral strippers told to cover up”, in CNN, archived from the original on 2015-04-24:

An annual holiday of several cultures that marks the beginning of a new year according to a lunar or lunisolar calendar, as opposed to a new year dictated by a solar calendar such as the Julian or Gregorian calendars.


namahage

A demon-like being in Japanese folklore, portrayed by men in ogre masks and traditional straw capes during a New Year's ritual of admonishing badly-behaved children.


white Easter

An Easter Sunday on which there is a ground covering of snow or snowfall.


Christmas light

Christmas light (plural Christmas lights)

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(chiefly in the plural) One of the electric lights, often arranged in strings, used at Christmas to decorate a Christmas tree, outdoor trees or bushes, a house, etc.

luz de Natal (usually in the plural "luzes de Natal")

solas Nollaige (usually in the plural "solais Nollaige")

luz de Navidad (usually in the plural "luces de Navidad")


Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Charlie Brown Christmas tree (plural Charlie Brown Christmas trees)

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My friends have wives that I'd be happy to take home to Mom, but I've only met the Charlie Brown Christmas trees of the dating world.

1999, Peter Bartula, “Well Then, Where the Hell is She?: Where to Look for the Perfect Woman”, in The Complete Male Handbook for Sex, Dating, and Other Trivial Stuff, Lincoln, Neb.: toExcel Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 27:

We had a little tree in our den area with a few little lights on it. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree a little bit and I kind of felt sorry for us because I realized we were poor by society's standards.

2009 July 6, Doneareum S. Winston, “Born into the Struggle”, in Panning for Gold, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 24:

[H]e spotted an abandoned tree near a dumpster at the back of the lot. It was a scrawny little thing, not much to look at. But it was a tree—and apparently it was free. Bob took it home to their little apartment, and Jayne nearly smothered the little tree in blinking lights and ornaments and garlands and tinsel. The baby was spellbound by the little Charlie Brown Christmas tree—and thus began a Ritter tradition.

2010, Delilah Scott, Emma Troy, “’Tis Better to Give … Or Why Beauty is in the Eye of the Gift Giver”, in The Upside-down Christmas Tree and Other Bizarre Yuletide Tales, Guildford, Conn.: Lyons Press, Globe Pequot Press, →ISBN, page 115:

It was a humble little plant, fragile, a fledgling shrub with a few sprays of leaves—a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

2014, Lev Grossman, The Magician’s Land (The Magicians Trilogy; 3), New York, N.Y.: Plume, published 2015, →ISBN, page 389:

Charlie Brown tree
Charlie Brown tree#English


Charlie Brown's Christmas tree

Charlie Brown's Christmas tree (plural Charlie Brown's Christmas trees)

Charlie Brown's Christmas trees (plural)

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Oh yes, 'twas the night before Christmas, / and it was a horrible site to see. / Things were looking sadder than Charlie Brown's / Christmas tree. / But hark! There was hope, and all was not lost.

2002, Wendell J. Powell I, “’Twas the Nite before Christmas – 1997”, in 12 Spiritual Voices, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 23:

When Rick laughs near me, the ground quakes because he is a California redwood, and I am Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. Now that I have won, he will not laugh. He will instead quietly pay for a very expensive dinner in a restaurant with no prices on the menu … and I will laugh. Though the story of the bet is true, beyond that has been Rick's earnest encouragement for me to move this book forward.

2009, Steven L. Layne, “Acknowledgments”, in Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers, Portland, Me.: Stenhouse Publishers, →ISBN, pages xv–xvi:

Walking around the dwarfed trees with bare spots throughout their branches, I commented that they reminded me of Charlie Brown's Christmas trees.

2017, Marilyn Peake, chapter 14, in Blood and Ashes: A Paranormal Romance Novel, [s.n.]: Marilyn Peake:


bonfire toffee

(British) A hard and brittle toffee associated with Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night (or Bonfire Night).


neep lantern

A third was a two-headed spectre, the upper one being a fiery head, that bore a suspicious resemblance to a neep lantern, and his body, or what should have been his body, was wrapped in a while sheet.

1873, Thomas Watson, Homely Pearls at Random Strung, page 270:

A neep lantern bobbing by the end of the palisade, near the Smith house, where a clutch of bairns stood in the footpath waiting for him.

2003, Heather Spears, The Flourish, page 347:

He always finished first in the annual Hallowe'en neep lantern competition though it was meant to be done by the pupils themselves.

2013, David M Addison, Confessions of a Banffshire Loon, page 288:

(Scotland) A lantern made from a hollowed-out turnip, traditionally used as decoration at Halloween.


Madaraka Day

From Swahili madaraka (“responsibility, power”).

bor

(Kenya) A national holiday celebrated on June 1, commemorating when Kenya gained self-rule.


Jamhuri Day

(Kenya) A national holiday celebrated on December 12, commemorating when Kenya became independent.


Mashujaa Day

(Kenya) A Kenyan national holiday celebrated on October 20.


Kenyatta Day

(Kenya) Former name of Mashujaa Day, official until changed in 2010.


Christmasish

en-adj

Christmasish (comparative more Christmasish, superlative most Christmasish)

more Christmasish (comparative)
most Christmasish (superlative)

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Lenten fare

(Christianity) Food that is fit to be consumed during Lent (in other words, food that does not contain meat).


Reminiscere Sunday

From Latin Reminiscere (“Remember!”), the beginning of the introit of the day's mass, traditionally drawn from Latin translations of Psalm 25.

(Roman Catholicism) The second Sunday in Lent.


Oculi Sunday

From Latin oculi (“eyes”), from the 1st word of the introit of the day's mass, traditionally a Latin translation of Psalm 25:15.

(Roman Catholicism) The third Sunday in Lent.


Kris Kringel

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The Germans brought to the county not only their skills but customs that we still see followed throughout the area. Some of these were the celebrating of Bels Nichol or Kris Kringel on the eve of St. Nicholas' feast in December; [...]

1977, Norbert Krapf, editor, Finding the Grain: Pioneer Journals, Franconian Folktales, Ancestral Poems, Jasper, Ind.: Dubois County Historical Society and Herald Printing, →ISBN, page 13:

Standing in the reception was a tall older man with a big bushy white beard that looked exactly like Kris Kringel in Miracle on 42nd Street.^([sic – meaning Miracle on 34th Street])

2004, Ballooning, volume 37, San Luis Obispo, Calif.: Balloon Federation of America, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 26:


Kriss Kringel

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In Germany, Santa has long been known as "Kriss Kringel" (derived from Christ Child). In America, the name is still used by the Pennsylvania Dutch.

1976, Good Housekeeping, volume 183, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Magazines, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 76:

“I find it appalling that Kriss Kringel’s brother could be so cold-hearted about Christmas,” said Bartoli.

2000, E[ugene] F[orrest] Shelby, “The Antisanta”, in Gothic Alaskan and Other Stories: Bad Horror from the Dark Subcontinent, Lincoln, Neb.: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 198:


Pongal

Transliteration of Tamil பொங்கல் (poṅkal).

translit

A Hindu harvest festival of South India, particularly in the Tamil community, observed at the start of the month Tai (typically around January 14).


egg rolling

A traditional Easter game in which decorated eggs "race" by being rolled downhill or pushed along the ground.


Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

A Roman Catholic feast day celebrated on October 7.


Radonitsa

From Russian Ра́доница (Rádonica), literally "Day of Rejoicing". See also Russian рад (rad, “joyful”).

In the Russian Orthodox Church, a commemoration of the departed observed on the second Tuesday or second Monday of Pascha (Easter).


Christmas bush

en-noun

Christmas bush (plural Christmas bushes)

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Plants, of mostly unrelated species, that bloom around Christmas time.

A New South Wales Christmas bush), a tall shrub from Australia of species Ceratopetalum gummiferum.


Halloweven

HALLOWEVEN or Hallowe’en, the vigil of Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day.

1890, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature, page 398:

She had heard the mystic wisdom / Of the waters of the meer; / There she sought her lover’s picture / ’Mid the Halloweven cheer.

1895, Werner's Magazine, volume 17, Halloweven Cheer, page 763:

659. Dalry.—On Halloweven the fairies rode on cats at the Holme Glen, Dalry. On that night considerate housekeepers shut up their cats, to prevent them from being laid hold of by the fairies.

1898, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Report of the Annual Meeting, volume 67, page 491:


Friendsmas

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Coordinate term: Friendsgiving

Few would have a greater mountain of unwanted Christmas gifts to climb than primary school teacher Kathleen Bevis, who splits her time between four Christmas's and one "Friendsmas" each year. […] "I couldn't get rid of it," Ms Bevis said. "I re-gifted it to a friend at Friendsmas, only to find it left behind."

2014 December 25, Eryk Bagshaw, “Unwanted Christmas gifts: $520 million worth of presents”, in The Sydney Morning Herald:

(informal) A Christmas celebration spent with one's friends.


Evolution Day

From evolution + day. From being the anniversary day of the day that On Origin of Species by Charles Darwin was originally published in 1859. From On Origin of Species being the seminal work that introduced biological evolution as the origin of the diversity of life on Earth.

evolutionary biology
evolutionary biology#English

(biology, holidays, celebrations) November the 24th; the day that celebrates the publication of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, and evolutionary biology, evolution science.

holidays; celebrations; holidays; celebrations

en:Charles Darwin
en:Evolution Day
en:On Origin of Species


black Christmas

black Christmas (plural black Christmases)

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D. A black Christmas makes a fat churchyard. D. This is, in effect, the same as A green winter makes, &c., as a 'black Christmas is of course a Christmas without snow.

1882, William Carew Hazlitt, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: Collected from the Most Authentic Sources, Alphabetically Arranged, and Annotated, page 3:

We didn't have any snow up here, that stayed until this year (1918) thus giving us a black Christmas, as they say, but the spirit was anything but black. Colored and white packages prevailed.

1917, The Journal of Electrical Workers and Operators, page 287:

We supposed that we were going to have a black Christmas, but we had snow and cold weather. The week before a storm had swept across the country to the northeastward, which just missed Albany and Boston, but […]

1928, John Van Schaick, Nature Cruisings to the Old Home Town and the Little Hill Farm:

“It was a black Christmas last year. It takes a white Christmas for a good crop year .” (Jesse Stuart, Beyond Dark Hills, 1938) (Snow adds nitrogen to the soil and is widely called “poor man's manure” because it fertilizes the soil, producing better crops.)

2000, Robert Hendrickson, The Facts on File Dictionary of American Regionalisms, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 345:

... the danger to her of travelling at that particular time of the year, the weather and the holiday crowds combined, Dorothy had written. Mrs. Fairlands turned sadly from the fireplace and walked slowly to the window. A black Christmas this year, the wireless report had [forecast].

2017, Martin Edwards, Crimson Snow: Winter Mysteries, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN:

A Christmas Day or Christmas Eve in which there is no snowfall or ground covered with snow.


Christmas's tree

Christmas's tree (plural Christmas's trees)

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Seen today in the Sunday Times (not, it must be said, a British tabloid!) /[…]This will also enable us to once again use the services of Nina, who sang a Bond song that we feel is one that most typifies the series. This 'series' link will be heightened by her rendition of 'Do You Know How Christmas's Trees Are Grown.'

1998 November 22, Rhino, “TWINE Update”, in alt.fan.james-bond (Usenet):

The young man in a mournful cry / “Help me Jesus” or I will die. / He saw the star turning slowly; / He knew he was anew and made Holy. / Someone found the man in the cold. / Placed him under a Christmas’s Tree boldly, / When held did arrive, He was awake and alive.

2005, Charles E. Carr, “A Parable of the Holy Star”, in At the Door: A Book of Writings, Lyrics, Poems & Inspiration Essays, Trafford Publishing, →ISBN:

Smell of cigarettes, trash burning, someone / Cooking oak gumbo with chicken & sausage, and muddy / Brown stew. Barbecue pits set off / Flames dancing into the wind. / Christmas’s tree spreading the smell of / Fresh pine cones.

2011, Ina M. Easter, “Remembering a Moment”, in God, I Wonder, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 59:

Still can't grasp why Moslems oppose Christmas's trees? / In the Middle East were^([sic]) told a tree is a symbol of life. It is spectacular to see after days nothing but sand then in the distance a tree. You can see the Arabs mood change to pleasantry as soon as the "TREE" sighting is made. Once there you find water by the trees and usually a town

2012 December 8, petzl, “Moslems stop Christmass festivities in Campbelltown Shopping Centre”, in aus.politics (Usenet):

My local shopping Mall is not allowed to display Christmas's trees or play Christmas Carols because of Islamic threats

2013 December 1, petzl, “Australian police find 328 guns, 4.2 tons of ammo at farm”, in aus.politics (Usenet):

Table 6 Echocardiography, electrocardiogram and chest X-ray findings in scorpion sting envenomation /[…]/ [“Modality”] Electrocardiogram [“Finding and clinical significance”][…]• In acute myocardial injury: Arrowhead tented T wave look like Ashoka tree appearance / • Recovery of myocardial injury: Tent-shaped look like Christmas’s tree appearance

2015, S Mahadevan, R Ramesh Kumar, “Part III: Intensive Care and Emergencies”, “Section 9: Poisoning and Envenomation”, “7. Scorpion Sting”, in Piyush Gupta, PSN Menon, Siddarth Ramji, Rakesh Lodha (section editor), editors, PG Textbook of Pediatrics, volumes 1: “General Pediatrics and Neonatology”, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd.: The Health Sciences Publisher, →ISBN, “Management”, page 321:

“Ma, it’s not dads^([sic]) fault. Why are you hollering at him?” “I’ve watched your father go out and kill people for twenty years. He never talks about it, but it’s always there. When the phone rings, your father lights up like a / Christmas’s tree. He likes killing people.”

2019, Don Bourassa, Dee Boer US Marshal, AuthorHouse, →ISBN:

(rare) Nonstandard form of Christmas tree.


Mistress Santa Claus

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[…]And pretty Mistress Santa Claus, / With sugar sticking to her thumbs / And tiny fingers, laughs aloud / To think of that great eager crowd / Of smiling girls and smiling boys / Awaiting for her husband’s toys. / And oh! and oh! the sugar-plums! / And now, sweethearts, when merry Christmas comes, / And you greet Santa’s gifts with loud applause, / Remember who sent you the sugar-plums, / And give one cheer for Mistress Santa Claus.

1882, Margaret Eytinge, “Mistress Santa Claus”, in Harper’s Young People, volume III, New York: Harper & Brothers, […], page 119, column 1:

1. Of all the bu - sy people round, This bu - sy Christmas - tide, None works like Mis - tress /[…]/ San - ta Claus For days and nights be - side;[…]

1890, Alex. Lee, Ada S. Shelton, “Mistress Santa Claus”, in J. P. McCaskey, editor, Christmas in Song, Sketch, and Story: […], New York: Harper & Brothers, […], page 301:

Just as he started for his sleigh / One eve, in old December, / He turned to Mistress Santa Claus / And said, “Did you remember / About that fine new Paris doll / for wee Dot in the city? / I must not fail to take that gift, / ’Twould be a dreadful pity.”

1897, Mabel L. Pray, “A Christmas Gift”, in Alice Maude Kellogg, editor, Christmas Entertainments […]:

The first scene shows several little girls with their dollies enjoying a tea party, and in the act of singing “Go To Sleep, My Little Dollie,” after which they decide to journey North in search of Mistress Santa Claus.

¶ Uncle Sam has a great sack of mail for Santa Claus. There is trouble getting it to him on account of the cold and distance, but Jack Frost, with the aid of the Fairies, Mistress Santa Claus and others, after a strenuous struggle succeed in reaching Snow-land, to the delight of Santa, and the joy of all.

1911, Christian Advocate, volume 86, page 2, column 2:

Telluride held union Thanksgiving services, Montrose had the traditional Christmas program (an innovation was Mistress Santa Claus), Durango held revivals, and Pagosa Springs fought a bitter campaign against “demon rum.”

1977, J. Alton Templin, Allen duPont Breck, Martin Rist, editors, The Methodist, Evangelical, and United Brethren Churches in the Rockies, 1850-1976, Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church, page 270:


Mrs. Santa Claus

en-proper noun

Mrs. Santa Claus (plural Mrs. Santa Clauses)

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Now, dear Mrs. Santa Claus, stay your tears. I think we can outwit your cunning husband yet. / Mrs. Santa Claus (seizing Fairy’s hand and kissing them).—O you dear, dear Fairy, I shall love you now better than ever.

1889, Clara J. Denton, “Santa Claus Outwitted: A Drama in One Act”, in Charles O. Shoemaker, editor, Holiday Entertainments Containing Short Dramas, Dialogues, Tableaux, Stories, Recitations, Etc. […], Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, “Scene II.—The Same”, page 10:

There was a long table, and around on one side was a big row of Santa Clauses and Mrs. Santa Clauses.

1907, Thornwell Jacobs, Sinful Sadday: Son of a Cotton Mill: A Story of a Little Orphan Boy Who Lived to Triumph, Nashville, Tenn.: Smith & Lamar, page 67:

Mrs. Santa Claus, do you think your husband is going to bring that doll to our house?

1914, Ella H. Clement, “A Christmas Eve Adventure”, in Mrs. J. W. Shoemaker, editor, Choice Dialogues: A Collection of New and Original Dialogues for School and Social Entertainment, Philadelphia: The Penn Publishing Company, published 1919, “Scene III”, page 134:

Mrs. Santa Claus brushed a tear from her eye as she placed a generous bag of toys on the floor and prepared to depart.

1914, The Windsor Magazine, volume 39, page 206, column 2:

So the next day several more prominent women came out, all dressed up like Mrs. Santa Claus with white powdered hair and red skirts and pillows in their stomachs and Santa Claus hats, and they weren’t killed either.[…]But this new generation of kids, who grew up believing in Mrs. Santa Claus, seemed to have a different attitude toward women.

1993, Spencer Holst, “The Santa Claus Murderer”, in The Zebra Storyteller: Collected Stories, Station Hill Literary Editions, →ISBN, pages 92, 93:

Later I saw the stout matriarchs of both families walking together, both wearing bright red robes with white trim, like a couple of Mrs. Santa Clauses.

2004, Pat Hartman, Ghost Town: A Venice California Life, Xlibris, →ISBN, page 102:

Crowd management was improved as female Santa’s helpers and Mrs. Santa Clauses came on the scene to calm children before their visit.

2006, Jan Whitaker, Service and Style: How the American Department Store Fashioned the Middle Class, St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN:

She brought the unpainted ceramic Santas and Mrs. Santa Clauses, reindeer, elves, and gift packages to us by the box load and spent every Tuesday evening from 7:00 to 8:30 or sometimes 9:00 showing us how to properly paint the white figures so that they looked “neat” and “professionally done.”

2015, Aimee Meredith Cox, Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship, Duke University Press, →ISBN:


Mrs Santa Claus

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The confrontation of urban and rural lifestyles is the major source of fun in the novel which would be incomplete without due references to the WI where "tradition decreed that one should wear a tweedy A-line skirt with a delicious lemony-coloured twin set" (119), where one can get one's hand "on loads of those hand-knitted gnome families they always make" (118) and where new members are introduced into the mysteries of "how to knit Mrs Santa Claus or the Three Bears in lime green wool remnants" (118).

1996, Jens Ulrich Davids, Richard Stinshoff, editors, The Past in the Present: Proceedings of the 5th Annual British and Cultural Studies Conference, Oldenburg 1994, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 78:

At any rate his mother’s response when she came down, her hair wet and heaped on her head, was not enthusiastic either. ‘Mrs Santa Claus is a white lady. A big fat white lady.’

2009, Evie Wyld, After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, London: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 39:

You could ask him: / • about Rudolph and the other reindeers in his team. / • if Rudolph is happier, now that all the other reindeers are his friends. / • about Mrs Santa Claus and wish him all the best until next Christmas. / Use the format given below. /[…] Closing line → Give my regards to Mrs Santa Claus. Hope to hear from you soon.

2019, Abha Sahgal, Sandra de Souza, “English”, “3. Rudolph: Santa’s Favourite Reindeer”, in Foundation: A Semester Series; English, Mathematics, Environmental Studies; 3: Semester 2, V-Connect Education, →ISBN, page E-33:


Mrs Claus

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But on the day when I approached her regarding Nazli Akram-Hyder, any resemblance to the jolly old Mrs Claus was only superficial.

2006, Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi, The Colour of Mehndi: A Novel, page 10:

With Mrs Claus (formerly Carol Newman) heavily pregnant, Santa (formerly Scott Calvin) agrees to let Jack Frost help with the Christmas preparations.

2007, Sight & Sound, British Film Institute, page 76, column 2:

KA: No problem Santa. An easy one now – what is your favourite colour? / SC: Red. I used to wear green a lot in the early days, but Mrs Claus says that red is my colour now.

2010, Keith Andrews, “An Interview with the Main Man in the Red Jersey”, in Jonathan Irwin, editor, There’s No Place like Home at Christmas, collected by Shane Lennon, Mercier Press, →ISBN, page 180:

Branson was Branson, Missouri, where you could find the world’s biggest Santa Claus convention with over seven hundred professional Santas, Mrs Clauses and helpers hanging out together for a five-day convention.

2020, William McInnes, Christmas Tales, Hachette, →ISBN:


Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

A public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, and which is also observed by the Armenian diaspora on April 24th, held annually to commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915.


Halloweekend

Even if you've missed the Halloweekend memo, putting together a last-minute costume can still be easy and cheap.

2011 October 27, Nissa Ostroff, “Last minute costume ideas”, in The Vanderbilt Hustler, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, page 6:

As it nears “Halloweekend,” we tend to find ourselves scrambling for cheap, last-minute Halloween costumes and if you're currently engaged in some type of partnership, you may find yourself dressing for two.

2015 October 29, Nebraska Lucas, “WU-approved costumes for budgeting couples”, in Willamette Collegian, page 4:

Despite this year's restrictions on social gatherings, Halloweekend was still a great time to have fun while staying within pods.

2020 November 12, Sydney Olinger, “Friars Celebrate Día de los Muertos”, in The Cowl, Providence College, Providence, RI, page 2:

The weekend where Halloween falls on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday; or a weekend before or after Halloween, when Halloween festivities are celebrated, if Halloween does not fall on a weekend.


Halloweek

For a full “Halloweek,” Buzz Lightyear and his Space Rangers battle the ultimate cavalcade of monsters, including the space incarnations of Dracula (“NOS-4-A2,” an energy vampire); the Wolfman (“Wirewolf,” a human who becomes a wolf-like, energy-thirsting creature after being nipped by NOS-4-A2); the Frankenstein monster (“XL,” a self-made robotic monster comprised of stolen parts) and the Mummy (“Ancient Evil,” an entombed “mummy” capable of draining a human's lifeforce); as well as an episode (“Revenge of the Monsters”) featuring the entire quartet of monsters as organized by NOS-4-A2.

2001 October 16, “‘Disney/Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command’ Celebrates ‘Halloweek’ On UPN & Syndication”, in PR Newswire:

One of the few times of the year when students are encouraged to pretend to be someone – or something – they are not, Halloweek will feature both on- and off-campus celebrations and attempts to best their peers with creative attire and trickery.

2013 October 31, Corinne Sejourne, “Halloweek haunts College Hill”, in The Brown Daily Herald, Brown University:

Throughout the hair-raising ‘Halloweek,’ bold adventurers can also visit Camel Creek\xE2s scariest residents at the Reptile House and Crocodile Corner and face their fears in the House of Horrors Scare Zone.

2021 October 11, Ryan Morwood, “Family attraction’s spooky ‘Halloweek’ of activities kicks off next Saturday”, in Falmouth Packet:


Christmas City

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So called because the city's name Noel is coincidentally also a synonym for Christmas in the English language (although it was actually named after two people with the surname Noel).

A nickname for the city of Noel, Missouri, United States.


Ask a Stupid Question Day

From the phrase there's no such thing as a stupid question.

(education, chiefly US) A holiday that is sometimes celebrated, usually by school students and teachers, observed on either September 28th or the last school day of September. The purpose of the holiday is to encourage students to ask more questions in the classroom.


August Bank Holiday

en-noun

August Bank Holiday (plural August Bank Holidays)

The fact that rail's August Bank Holiday figures this year were higher than before the virus indicates the potential for growth.

2021 November 17, Anthony Lambert, “How do we grow the leisure market?”, in RAIL, number 944, page 35:

(England, Wales, Northern Ireland) A public holiday on the last Monday in August.


let it snow

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From the song "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!", written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne in July 1945.

Christmas season
Christmas season#English

(colloquial) Used around the Christmas season to express anticipation of snowfall.

Jule Styne
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Sammy Cahn


War on Christmas

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(US, politics, US politics, derogatory) An alleged plot by atheists and liberals to remove Christianity from Christmas or ban the festival of Christmas itself.


Santa Paws

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No no not Santa Paws! Bean O'brien. Everyone deserves a second chance maybe he was just being a poophead cuz he need a hug Bessa Phaneuf. You a bad troll...!! Mattie Bissmeyer. He's a very norty Troll. But i don't like to see anyone cry ...

year unknown, Josephine Tuckfield, Saving Santa Paws, Lulu.com

It turned out that Snowy was upset because at Christmas all the animals are left out and he wants to be SANTA PAWS. Well, Ithought what a great idea this was and went back into the room and said to Snowy, “What a kind dog you are ...

2009, Buckham Derek, Santa's Christmas Story Book, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 24:

Duke happily trotted to the main stand Where Santa Paws sat, all dressed in red and looking very grand. The mall was filled with Christmas delight; Mistletoe, holly and Santa were a welcoming sight. Duke happily trotted to the main ...

2011, Blossom Albuquerque, Dashing Duke and His Dodgy Adventures, Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency, →ISBN, page 28:

"Santa Paws is always willing to hear Christmas wishes." He winkedat Eva as Savannah buried her head under Eva's arm. "Aww, don't be afraid, sweetie. He won't bite." "Unless you're a cookie." Adam struggled to get the Santa cookie he'd ...

2014, Meda White, Christmas Give: A Holiday Novella, Meda White, →ISBN:

Another True Story About Best Friends...and Siblings Too! Brittni Vega. plate of cookies and a glass of milk. I don't mean to ruin the . . . I am almost twelve in dog years. I stopped believing in Santa Paws a few months ago.

2015, Brittni Vega, Harlow & Indiana (and Reese): Another True Story About Best Friends...and Siblings Too!, Penguin, →ISBN:

Santa Paws knows Santa Claus, because he was his first and favourite pet. Santa Claus loved Santa Paws so much, that every Christmas, Santa Claus would take Santa Paws with him in his sleigh. Santa Paws would look at the beautiful night ...

2017, Hanna L. Farha, Santa Paws, Lulu Press, Inc, →ISBN:

When Belle opened her eyes , she saw Santa Paws. " I got your letter , Belle , " chuckled Santa Paws. " I have to say, when I was a young pup, I also made some mistakes. Look at me now! I grew up just fine!

2020, Sara J J Gunkel, Dear Santa Paws, Page Publishing Inc, →ISBN, page 13:

(humorous, fiction) An equivalent to Santa Claus as an anthropomorphic dog or cat.


World Freedom Day

I made my first visit to Taiwan in 1974 in order to take part in a World Freedom Day rally in Taipei. The rally was sponsored by the World League for Freedom and Democracy, an organization with 120 national chapters worldwide.

2005, Jesse Helms, Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page https://archive.org/details/hereswhereistand0000helm/page/n200/:

a memorial day celebrated on January 23 in Taiwan and South Korea


naughty list

Certainly connected with, and possibly derived from, the lyrics of a Christmas carol, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town":
He's makin a list / and checkin it twice / He's gonna find out / who's naughty or nice

According to Christmas folklore, a list kept by Santa Claus of children who have been naughty, and who will therefore not be given as many presents.


Merdeka

Merdeka celebrations

Merdeka parade

(Malaysia, colloquial) Malaysian independence day on August 31


Merdeka Day

(Malaysia, colloquial) The Malaysian Independence Day, on August 31.


Burra Din

Borrowed from Hindustani بڑا دن / बड़ा दिन (baṛā din, literally “great day”).

(historical, Anglo-Indian) Any major European festival, especially Christmas Day.


Kissmiss

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The saddler, who is also a servant, has brought five trays in honour of kissmiss (Christmas); […]

2003, Fanny Parkes Parlby, William Dalrymple, Begums, Thugs and Englishmen: The Journals of Fanny Parkes, page 95:

“Say 'Merry Christmas,'” I said.
“Merry Kissmiss!” Michael and Mitchell said in unison.

And the little tree, the children's tree, lights up in red, green, blue and yellow, and they gasp and applaud and laugh and say, “Mewwy Kissmiss Mom!”

2016, Neoma Nayrah, The Light Under the Door:

“Yes, we'll bake Christmas cookies for Santa, together.”
“Kissmiss cookies!” Katie exclaimed, clapping her hands and sending berries around the room.

2018, C. F. Frizzell, Crossing the Line:

(nonstandard, childish or pronunciation spelling) Christmas.


Treason Day

In reference to the American Revolutionary War.

I have a British colleague who, at the end of our writing group meeting, wished us all a "happy treason day" 😂

2020 July 3, margaret_emma, Twitter, archived from the original on 2022-09-27:


Christmas comes early

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Then he turns to Rhaenys, who, he reasonably argues, is the best authority on what her husband would want. And Christmas comes early for Rhaenyra, because not only has her dad come out to support her family, but her aunt also backs Luke’s claim—and accepts her niece’s offer of a Targaryen-Velaryon double wedding.

2022 October 10, Jenna Scherer, “House Of The Dragon drops its best episode yet”, in AV Club:

A large number of fortuitous events come at the same time.


Andrewmas

There will be deep snow by Andrewmas.

1931, John Buchan, The Blanket of the Dark:

Andrewmas, for example, by which time ploughing should be completed; Martinmas when spare animals were slaughtered; St Luke's Day when the 'tupping' of ewes commenced, or Lady Day and Michaelmas when farm rents were due.

2017, Michael J. Braddick, Phil Withington, Popular Culture and Political Agency in Early Modern England and Ireland, page 96:


tricks or treats

Every year, Linus misses tricks or treats! And then the Halloween party!

1966, Charles M. Schulz, 8:37 from the start, in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, spoken by Violet Gray (Ann Altieri):

(dated) Alternative form of trick-or-treating.


Thanksgivingtide

Thanksgivingtide (countable and uncountable, plural Thanksgivingtides)

From Thanksgiving + -tide (“period around a festival”).

suffix

Seven years had passed, and once more the Thanksgivingtide was in Mapleton.

1876, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “Chapter VII”, in Betty's bright idea; also, Deacon Pitkin's farm, and The first Christmas of New England, Thanksgiving Again:

The wild winds croon of Thanksgivingtide

1901 December 21, Helen Chase, “A Song of Thanksgiving”, in The Connecticut School Journal, volume 7, number 12, The Journal Publishing Co., page 14:

As by this bright fire we sit / At this Thanksgivingtide

1911, P. F. Koontz, “Thanksgiving”, in Santa Fe Employes’ Magazine, volume 6, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company, page 131:

Now, therefore, I, George H. Earle, Governor of Pennsylvania, titular successor, so-called, to His Excellency Johan Printz, do solemnly adjure the citizenry of the Commonwealth loyally to consider at this Thanksgivingtide, during 1938 and thereafter, the historical and spiritual significance of events marking this goodly vista of 300 years, and by practice and precept to evolve a concept of simpler, sterner, living in which character is fundamental…

1938, George H. Earle, Congressional Record, United States Government Publishing Office, Appendix to the Congressional Record, page 1975:

This Thanksgivingtide recalls to our hearts the endless and undeserved mercies wherewith thou has blessed us.

1967, James Archibald Jones, Prayers for the People: A Memorial Collection of Pulpit Prayers, John Knox Press, page 100:

Devotees of liberal college education attending the yearly Thanksgivingtide

1975, Joe D. Thomas, Donald E. Morse, Sansculotte: A Nonknickerbocker History of the College English Association (1938–1975) : in Seven Fyttes, Sive Lustra, College English Association Foundation, page 3:

…a so-called rock opera to which Liz dragged me when we were in New York at Thanksgivingtide in 1971

2013 October 29, R. M. Koster, The Dissertation, Overlook Press, →ISBN:

(informal) The season around Thanksgiving.


tree topper

tree toppers (plural)
tree-topper (alternative)
treetopper (alternative)

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A decorative ornament placed on the top of a Christmas tree, often in the form of a star or angel.


Vlogmas

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Only the bravest online celebrities dare to take on Vlogmas. […] Are you ready to give Vlogmas your very own spin? How would the intro to your Christmas countdown look?

2016, Vlog It!: The Yearbook, Scholastic Children’s Books, →ISBN:

What motivated you to open up about your student debt at this point? […] [Aja Dang:] Then I opened up during Vlogmas. Vlogmas is during December, you vlog every single day. There’s not necessarily a rhyme or reason for it, you just do it. You show people your day. My day happened to be trying to pay off my student loan payment for the month.

2018 May 23, Amanda Duberman, “This Influencer Is Using YouTube To Speak Frankly About Student Loan Debt”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 2019-02-14:

I was going to say, when we talk tomorrow, we need to discuss your strategy for Vlogmas.

2019, Sophie Ranald, Out with the Ex, in with the New, Bookouture, →ISBN:

And, on the countdown to Christmas, the couple go one step further – recording a video every single day in December, as part of ‘Vlogmas’.

2022 November 1, “Nadia Sawalha and Mark Adderley”, in Best:

(Internet) A Christmas celebration that involves publishing a vlog every day in December until Christmas.


Advent wreath

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Local custom gives us an “Advent Tree” or “Advent Wreath”: the trees are diminutive Christmas trees, which bear one candle for each Sunday in Advent; the wreaths are wooden rings with as many holes as there are days before Christmas Eve, decorated with fir green, and gay ribbons, and hung up over the dining-table, one candle being added every night till the circle is complete.

1929 December 28, “Correspondence: A Letter from Oberammergau. [To the Editor of the Spectator.]”, in The Spectator, volume 143, number 5296, page 972:

(Christianity) A usually evergreen wreath adorned with four (or sometimes five) candles, the first of which is lit on Advent Sunday, followed by the lighting of an additional candle on each subsequent Sunday.

adventskrans

usually evergreen wreath adorned with four candles


Yule lad

Calque of Icelandic jólasveinn. Compare also Yule swain.

One of several trolls, children of the ogress Grýla, who, according to Icelandic folktales, arrive one each day from December 12th through December 25, and leave one each night from December 25 through January 6. The Yule lads are associated with tricks and mischief, but also with carrying off naughty children in a burlap bag and eating them.


Santa Clause

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...each a good knife & some candy & put in their stockings for Santa Clause.

1978, Calvin Fletcher, “December 1857”, in The Diary of Calvin Fletcher, volume 6, page 153:

I can only sympathize with a teacher whose conscience is of such extreme dimensions that the corroboration of the "Santa Clause myth" causes a pang; and I should surely....I hope that few teachers of our fair Canada are burdened with such a troublesome conscience as your correspondent of Dec. 1st. Let us have Santa Clause in all his magnificence.

1906, Gideon E. Henderson, Matthew Parkinson, editors, The Canadian Teacher, page 511:

The section features several letters from children addressed to Santa. 14 letters are addressed "Dear Santa Clause", two are addressed "Dear Santa", and one is addressed to "Dear Old Santa Claus", which also mentions him by his full name two more times with the same spelling.

1908 December 17, The Jeannette Dispatch, Little Folks Write Good Old Santa Claus, page 9:

But since at times it is almost impossible to get at that time of the year, it became necessary to use some other methods of receiving and distributing the many presents from Santa Clause...Under the breakfast plate on Christmas morning a note is often placed, telling where Santa Clause has hidden the first present...There is a Christmas plum pudding made over a wire frame, covered with brown burlap and with raisins sewed on for decoration. This makes an excellent receptacle for the things brought by Santa Clause...

1910, Lenora Makelim, “Christmas Suggestions.”, in The Oregon Countryman, volume 3, pages 40–41:

Old Santa Clause, and him be me...They wuz no Santa Clause when he...

1915, James Whitcomb Riley, “What "Old Santa" Overheard”, in Riley Songs of Friendship, page 161:

...Was the chance that I might see Santa Clause....For you see my time has come, I'm Santa Clause.

1920, The Virginia Reel, Virginia Reel, Incorporated, page 19:

Susie wiped away the tears, and turned to look out of the window. Perhaps she said to herself, "perhaps Santa Clause has something for me after all!" Now, the sad, really dreadful part about it was that Santa Clause didn't have one single thing for Susie in his pack.

1922, Silas Xavier Floyd, Alice H. Howard, “A Christmas Present.”, in The New Floyd's Flowers Illustrated Stories Especially Arranged for Colored People, Austin Jenkins, page 184:

Dear Santa Clause: It would please me very much for you to send me a flashlighter.

1934, Pacific Telephone Magazine, Fun For All, page 11:

...and hope my dad and brothers Snake out tan bark to get a little money to buy things with One Xmas Santa Clause gave us three or four sticks of candie and a ornge^([sic])

1974, Eliot Wigginton, The Foxfire Book, volume 1, Anchor Press, page 16:

I understood all about Santa Clause, the baby Jesus and everything.

1984, Richard Gordon, The Bulldog and the Bear: A Play in Two Acts, S. French, page 74:

A year later, in Lynch v. Donnelly, the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island had erect a large Christmas display each holiday season in a privately owned park. This display included a Santa Clause house, reindeer, a Christmas tree, and carolers...

1990, Shlomo Slonim, editor, The Constitutional Bases of Political and Social Change in the United States, Praeger, page 77:

If we only remembered it was Christmas & not Santa Clause day.

1990, Emily Carr, Nan Cheney, Humphrey N. W. Toms, “22 December 1940”, in Doreen Walker, editor, Dear Nan, page 281:

"Well, Nutty Buddy's sick, too sick to have Santa Clause," said Yabbett. "Hope I'm not too young to have Santa Clause." She questioningly looked to Sam. "No you're not, twirp. No one's too young for Santa Clause." And Yabbett, leaning a bit closer to Sam, whispered very low, "Is Molly too old for Santa Clause?" "No twirp, no one's too young for Santa Clause and no one's too old for Santa Clause."

2001, Bonnie Gulan, Story Lady, chapter 2, in Lost Adventures of the House of the Seven Cats, page 24:

"Santa Clause?" Ellen asked, then rolled her eyes at her own question, "I mean, yes, sure, every kid learns about Santa Clause." "No," Mr. Stevens' smile faded and he plucked the leaf from the tree, “Every kid doesn't learn about Santa Clause, because every adult knows that Santa is a 'make believe', and overused flying, ho-ho-ho commercial."

2001, William D. Noe, Roberta J. Noe, Odds and Ends, Xlibris Corporation LLC, page 163:

"I think I saw Santa Clause." the child said, pushing up on her arms to eventually sit upright, her feet under her.

2012, Fernan M. Gruber Jr., Santa's Reindeer Hay, AuthorHouse, page 2:

The book repeatedly spells the name as 'Clause', including on the title and back cover: Do you know that Santa Clause is a real person? Do you know the true story of where Santa Clause [...] Just Call Me Nicholas, The Story of the Birth of Santa Clause will answer all of those questions and more. From Coach Kie’s Kid Collection comes this timeless lovely story about the birth of Santa Clause dating all the way back to the beginning.

2020 November 26, Coach Kie, Just Call Me Nicholas: The Story of How Santa Clause was Born:

Dear: Santa Clause. I wish you a merry Cristmas! Can you give me all big, small, and tiny meemeows I don’t have? [...] Dear Santa, Thank you for sending Wrinkle too! For Christmas I would like a black kitten. (PLEASE!!) Was there a Santa Clause before you?

2022 December 20, “Letters to Santa”, in The Northside Sun:

Dear Santa Clause, Thank you for the clothes you brought me last year. How are you and Mrs. Clause doing?

2022 December 21, “Letters to Santa Claus”, in Gazette-Journal:

2022 December 23, “Santa Clause comes early for one lucky person”, in City of Ballarat:


happy Near Year

From everyone here at "Chum central."

2002 January 1, Helpful GM, “CL: Happy near year”, in comp.sys.mac.games.adventure (Usenet), retrieved 2023-01-01:


Chunjie

Chunjies (plural)
Chun Jie (alternative)

/ˈtʃʊnˌdʒiːə/

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 春節 /春节 (Chūnjié, “Spring Festival”).

bor

Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year#English

(chiefly China) Synonym of Chinese New Year.


asantaist

asantaists (plural)
a-Santa-ist (alternative)

From a- + Santa + -ist, based on atheist.

Nearly everyone but small children are asantaists, while the same is true of aunicornists — even if they have never once decided as an absolute fact, or even as a matter of faith, that unicorns do not exist.

2016 January 30, Nicholas Bittner, The Roads Around Religion, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 11:

(rare, humorous) A person who does not believe in Santa Claus.


like a kid on Christmas morning

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-like a kid on Christmas morning.wav

like a kid at Christmas
like a kid at Christmas#English


like a kid at Christmas

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-like a kid at Christmas.wav

(simile, informal) Very delighted and excited.


independence day

en-noun

independence day (plural independence days)

An annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood.

Onafhankelijkheidsdag

official holiday, for instance in Suriname


Pokrova

Borrowed from Ukrainian Покрова (Pokrova) or Russian Покров (Pokrov).

Intercession of the Theotokos (feast on 14 October)


Spooktober

Blend of spooky + October, from the association of Halloween with October.

In developing a new theme for this year’s rounds of Spooktober posts, we decided to look beyond the realm of strictly horror games to cover a topic that we hadn’t touched on before, one that encompasses games generally and allows for a little “outside the box” thinking. Our Spooktober theme this year is “The Horror that Surrounds.”

2024 October 3, CARY, “Spooktober: The Horror that Surrounds”, in VIRTUAL BASTION:

(humorous, chiefly Internet) Synonym of October


Green Christmas

Little Christmas
Little Christmas#English


spooky season

spooky season (countable and uncountable, plural spooky seasons)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-spooky season.wav

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I’m not sure why it’s October, maybe because it’s spooky season and the scariest thing that could happen to you would be cancer.

Once October hits, we're ready for spooky season and while we loved telling scary stories in the dark when we were kids, not everyone loves horror. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, but I hate scary movies.

But it’s heartening that we can have something like There’s Someone, a just OK movie with a diverse cast — a somewhat goofy slasher we'll all probably forget when spooky season ends.

(slang) The days leading up to, and including, Halloween.


gingerbread house

gingerbread house (plural gingerbread houses)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-gingerbread house.wav

A novelty confectionery in the shape of a house, with walls, roof and sometimes chimney made of dense, crisp gingerbread, held together with frosting and decorated with candies; popular especially at Christmastime.


Whamageddon

An informal game played during the 24 days before Christmas, in which players try to avoid hearing the popular song "Last Christmas" by Wham!.


Christmas Adam

Reinterpreting Eve (“evening or day before (another day)”) as the name Eve, and referencing how, in Genesis, Adam came before Eve.

Bob ended up at the discount store on “Christmas Adam,” buying just with creative recipes! about every Nerf gun the store had, plus a shopping cart full of other fun surprises. The evening before, the children had participated in a Christmas music pageant […]

2012 March 6, Michelle Duggar, Jim Bob Duggar, A Love That Multiplies: An Up-Close View of How They Make It Work, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 53:

"Happy Christmas Adam," James greeted him. [...] It was a family custom to call the twenty-third of December Christmas Adam, because it was the day before Christmas Eve, and Adam had come before Eve. Levi nodded to James now, glancing around again. “Happy Christmas Adam to you, too. Is everything all right?” James leaned on the counter[…]

2017 December 1, Regina Scott, His Frontier Christmas Family, Harlequin, →ISBN:

"[…] to the games on on Christmas Adam." Layla's eyes popped open, and she counted in her head. "That's in two days. I haven't done the shopping for the games that are already on my list. Gracious." She sliced the turkey breast[…]

2023 August 22, Regina Walker, Miracle Inn, Regina Walker:

(humorous) The day before Christmas Eve.


vicennals

From Latin vīcennālia, from vīcennis (“20-year”) + -ālia (“-alia: forming festival names”), from vīciēs (“twenty times”) + annus (“year”) + -is (“forming compound adjectives”).

(historical, rare) Synonym of vicennalia: the festival and religious ritual held on the 20th anniversary of a Roman emperor's reign.


vicennalia

vicennalia (plural vicennalia or vicennalias)

vicennalia (plural)
vicennalias (plural)
Vicennalia (alternative)

From Latin vīcennālia, from vīcennium (“20-year period”) + -ālia (“-alia: forming the names of festivals”), from vicennis (“20-year”) + -ium (“forming abstract nouns”), from vīciēs (“twenty each”) + annus (“year”) + -is (“forming compound adjectives”). Equivalent to vicennium + -alia.

Apart from the Vicennalia, 136 was an eventful year for the imperial family: the serious illness of Hadrian in the spring, the adoption of Aelius in the summer and the death and consecration of Sabina at the end of the year.

1971, P.V. Hill, "The Dating and Arrangement of Hadrian's COS III", Mints, Dies and Currency, p. 52

The exact timing of the tenth and twentieth anniversaries, the decennalia and the vicennalia, has already been discussed at length. The most straightforward solution, that it took place on the emperor's dies imperii ten years after the accession, has its adherents. However, a date earlier in the year, perhaps even the day of the beginning of the tenth year, may also be considered—at least in the second century AD.

2005, Jakob Munk Højte, Roman Imperial Statue Bases from Augustus to Commodus, p. 157

As a chronological list of Roman emperors makes clear, several rulers reign long enough to enjoy their decennalia, but relatively few were fortunate enough to celebrate their vicennalia, their twentieth imperial anniversary; and from the second century onwards Constantine alone ruled long enough to celebrate a tricennalia.

2012, Gary Forsythe, "Magna Mater and the Taurobolium", Time in Roman Religion, p. 111

(historical) The festival and religious rituals celebrating a Roman emperor's 20th year of rule.


decennalia

decennalia (plural decennalia or decennalias)

decennalia (plural)
decennalias (plural)
Decennalia (alternative)

From Latin decennālia, from decennium (“10-year period”) + -ālia (“-alia: forming the names of festivals”), from decennis (“10-year”) + -ium (“-ium: forming abstract nouns”). Equivalent to decennium + -alia.

Seven pieces celebrate the Decennalia of Arcadius, which were due on Jan. 15, 393.

1915, Arthur Evans, "Notes on the Coinage and Silver Currency in Roman Britain from Valentinian I to Constantine III", Numismatic Chronicle..., 4th Ser., Vol. 15, p. 436

(historical) The festival and religious rituals celebrating a Roman emperor's 10th year of rule.

Antoninus Pius
Julian the Apostate
decennalia