I have some good memories of the Girl Guides. I understand that that statement may take some explaining: I was, in fact, a Cub and then a Scout in my youth, but my Mum was a Guides leader. She was thoroughly dedicated to her role and was a beloved figure
The word for today is… untoward (adjective): : difficult to guide, manage, or work with : unruly, intractable Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : More than 700 years ago, English speakers began using the word toward for “forward-moving” youngsters, the kind who showed promise and were open to listening to their elders. After about
As a Gen Xer, I was born with the instruction to “Wind up Boomers at every chance” practically printed on my birth certificate. So, when another self-congratulatory Boomer post appears on The BFD, naturally I owe it to my generation to post something to wind up the Boomers. Which, let’
The word for today is… venal (adjective): 1 : capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration : especially open to corrupt influence and, especially, bribery 2 : originating in, characterized by, or associated with corrupt bribery Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : If you are given the choice between acts
Under the austere leadership of the Church of Scotland, and a purely literal reading of the Bible, Christmas was ‘banned’ and remained so for hundreds of years in the presbyteries of the Northern British Isles, only officially rejoining the collective sanctioned celebrations in the mid-Twentieth Century. Blaming the once-supreme Catholic
The word for today is… batten (verb, noun, verb): verb 1a : to grow fat b : to feed gluttonously 2 : to grow prosperous especially at the expense of another —usually used with on noun 1a British : a piece of lumber used especially for flooring b : a thin narrow strip of lumber
The word for today is… boxing day (noun): the first weekday after Christmas observed as a legal holiday in parts of the Commonwealth Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : By an English custom postmen, employees, and others can expect to receive a Christmas present; originally in reference to the custom of distributing
Dimitris Xygalatas University of Connecticut The mere thought of holiday traditions brings smiles to most people’s faces and elicits feelings of sweet anticipation and nostalgia. We can almost smell those candles, taste those special meals, hear those familiar songs in our minds. Ritual marks some of the most important
Joe Perry Georgia State University In 1921, in a Munich beer hall, newly appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters cheered when Hitler condemned “the cowardly Jews for breaking the world-liberator on the cross” and
What’s the best Christmas gift you ever got? In The Big Bang Theory, socially-awkward genius Sheldon struggles with the whole concept of Christmas gift-giving. Why is it wrong to give someone something practical that they need? Why give someone something ostensibly useless? Sheldon just doesn’t get it — until
William Keylor Boston University The Christmas Truce is no stranger to popular entertainment – this year more than any other as its 100th anniversary is marked. The famous moment when British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches in peace on Christmas Day 1914 has been replicated and ruminated upon
This year won’t be the first Christmas that the Queen has spent without her husband, but it will be the first in 75 years that she will have to confront the knowledge that he is not merely absent, but gone. Still, as we do at this time of year,
Despite the ever-increasing secularisation of “The Holidays”, one of the most iconic images of Christmas remains the Nativity. Even the Christian-hating left find themselves, every year, trying to usurp the imagery of the Nativity. Perhaps that’s because it’s one of the most striking images in all the major
The word for today is… Christmas (noun): Church festival observed annually in memory of the birth of Christ Source : Online Etymology Dictionary Etymology : Late Old English Cristes mæsse, from Christ (and retaining the original vowel sound) + mass. Written as one word from mid-14c. As a verb, “to celebrate Christmas,” from
Thomas Adam University of Arkansas Thomas Adam, PhD, is an associate professor of international and global studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Arkansas. He also serves as associate director of the International and Global Studies Program at the University of Arkansas. Each season, the celebration
The word for today is… perpetuity (noun): 1 : eternity 2 : the quality or state of being perpetual 3: the condition of an estate limited so that it will not take effect or vest within the period fixed by law 4 : an annuity payable forever Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Continual existence—
