Just a few days until Christmas. Since there are not many days left to the "big day" I have decided to dedicate an entry to have a look at some vocabulary and idioms that you can find useful to spend these festivities in a more international way. Let's start from some lexical terms first:
- Merry (adj): happy, cheerful, full of joy
- Mistletoe (n): a plant with yellowish flowers and white berries used in Christmas decorations
- Holly(n): a tree or plant with shiny leaves and red berries
- Tinsel(n): a thin sheet or thread of glittering metal that produce a sparkling effect in decorations
- Crib(n): a child's bed with enclosed sides/a box or bin for holding food for animals
- Christmas carol (n): Christmas songs
- Bauble(n): cheap, showy ornament, decoration
- Father Christmas(n): a popular name for Saint Claus
- Christmas hamper(n): Large basket containing usually food given in Christmas as present
- Reindeer(n): a large deer of northern and arctic regions of the world
- Sleigh(n): a light vehicle usually open and generally drawn by horses used for transporting people over snow
- Wreath(n): a circular band made of flowers or plants and used for decoration.
- Christmas stocking(n): a red and white close-fitting covering for the foot and part of the leg made of wool or cotton and used for decoration
So,now that you have been provided with plenty of vocabulary about this special time of the year, let's have a look at some idioms or sayings popularly used in Christmas:
-Stocking stuffer: a small gift given at Christmas time. Mary always wait until the last minute to buy all her stocking stuffers
-Eat, drink and be merry: enjoy with good food and drink. Welcome to the company's Christmas party. Eat, drink and be merry!
-Trim the tree: to put ornaments on a Christmas tree. There is so much to pr pare before Christmas but Jamie always comes to help me cook and trim the tree
-White Christmas: a Christmas Day with snow on the ground. It's so hot that I don't think we will have a white Christmas this year.
-In the holiday spirit: feeling excited about Christmas. My little son is always in the holiday spirit at this time of the year
-Don't be a Scrooge: don't be negative around the Christmas holidays spoiling others' fun (from Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol). Come on! Come to the party. We will have so much fun. Don't be a Scrooge!
-Secret Santa: when members of a group are assigned a person to give a present to, often by having randomly selected names beforehand. There are so many of us that we always do secret Santa for Christmas.
-Christmas comes but once a year: it is a special day and we should be especially generous and indulgent. You could be a bit more permissive with your daughter, Christmas comes but once a year!
-Christmas came early!: when you receive some unexpected good news or good fortune. My sister got promoted in her job unexpectedly and my son passed all his final exams, Christmas came early this year!
-Like Turkeys voting for Christmas: choosing to accept a situation which will have very bad results for them. All the employees were like turkeys voting for Christmas, they did not really know what they were getting into!
Well, I hope you have enjoyed them. All for me to say is...
Merry Christmas and don´t forget to... Eat, drink and be merry!
No comments:
Post a Comment