All the Christmas Vocabulary is explained in the vocabulary glossary below the article. Don’t forget to to vote in our Xmas question poll. It only takes one click! 🙂
Someone said to me recently that the older you get, the more you hate Christmas. This is because you realise that there is so much hassle for one day. I responded by saying the opposite; the older you get, the more you appreciate it, because you realise this is one of the few occasions when people do not think about themselves, but others. However, what do people in general think are the good and bad points of the festive season?
I asked around to get people’s opinions…
Reasons for Hating Christmas – Or “I hate Xmas”
- Presents (often expensive) are given to loved ones which have been chosen, or demanded, beforehand – they might as well have bought it themselves
- The weeks leading up to Christmas are all about fighting your way through hordes of shoppers, causing more stress even just for buying wrapping paper or decorations
- Office Christmas parties mean socialising with colleagues which you may not like
- The obligatory family get-together is more of a yearly chore, particularly for the ones in the family who have to host these meetings
- Boxing Day, the worst day of the year for people who hate cleaning
- Watching The Snowman for the 100th time on TV
- Listening to the same Christmas songs and carols on the radio/TV ad nauseam
- Putting up with nephews and nieces running around screaming their heads off
- Spending more money than usual, therefore turning people into a scrooge
Reasons for loving Christmas – Or, “I love Xmas”
- Spending time with family that you might not have seen in a year because you have just been too busy
- Having the traditional family meal of turkey with stuffing, mince pies and Christmas pudding, as well as pulling Christmas crackers together – lovely!
- Wrapping presents and then seeing the look of surprise and happiness on a friend of family member’s face when giving it to them
- The excitement on Christmas Eve (more about Xmas Eve here) of being able to unwrap presents given to you
- Putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it with tinsel and baubles
- Counting down the days to Christmas by eating the chocolate inside the advent calendar
- The Christmas office party supplying free food and drinks, with the added bonus of maybe being able to get a kiss under the mistletoe by someone you’ve always fancied
- Waiting for Father Christmas to come on his sleigh with his reindeer and elves to deliver presents down the chimney!
Personally, I love the spirit of togetherness of being with friends and family that this time of year brings. I hope you all do too. Remember, it’s all about the giving. Merry Christmas everyone!
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Christmas Vocabulary:
- presents
- gifts, usually given at Xmas or birthdays
- Wrapping paper
- Paper to put around presents and give to people
- Decorations
- Things to make a place look and feel like it is Christmas
- Boxing Day
- 26th December
- the festive season
- the Christmas period
- A snowman
- a model of packed snow in the form of a figure (The Snowman is a popular Xmas cartoon about a flying snowman)
- Carol
- A song of praise or joy, sung especially at Christmas
- A scrooge
- a mean-spirited stingy person, after the main character from Charles Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’
- Turkey
- A big bird usually eaten in the UK at Christmas
- Stuffing
- A mixture of seasoned ingredients (herbs, spices and vegetables) used to put inside the turkey
- Mince Pie
- A small, round pie or tart containing sweet mincemeat, typically eaten at Christmas
- Christmas pudding
- a rich fruitcake (usually covered with icing and marzipan) and eaten at Christmas
- Cracker
- a tube of brightly coloured paper given at Christmas parties, which makes a noise when pulled apart by two people and contains a small present, a paper hat and a joke
- Wrap
- to put presents in wrapping paper
- Unwrap
- to open presents
- Christmas Eve
- December 24
- Tinsel
- A form of decoration consisting of thin strips of shiny metal foil
- Bauble
- a round-shaped decoration that is commonly used to put on Christmas trees
- Advent Calendar
- a large card with a brightly coloured design that contains small numbered doors for children to open on each of the days of Advent, revealing pictures beneath them or chocolates inside
- Mistletoe
- a European plant often used as a Christmas decoration which people traditionally kiss under
- Father Christmas
- The personification of the spirit of Christmas, usually represented as a jolly fat old man with a white beard and a red suit, who brings gifts to good children on Christmas Eve
- Sleigh
- a usually large sledge pulled by a horse or other animal
- Reindeer
- Deer-like animal
- Elf (plural: Elves)
- a small, helpful, mythical person
