Expressions for Celebrating the Holidays
2022-12-25
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1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2December is a special month when many people celebrate holidays around the world.
3There is the Winter Solstice celebration called Dongzhi in China and Toji in Japan.
4Jewish people celebrate eight days of Hanukkah.
5And African American culture has seven days of Kwanzaa that ends on New Year's Day.
6In many places around the world, today is a holiday - Christmas!
7So, we will talk about holiday expressions that you can use in American English.
8Let's start with the holiday spirit.
9If you are in the holiday spirit, you feel good about holidays and are looking forward to them.
10Some people get into the holiday spirit weeks, even months before the actual holiday.
11However, for some people, the holiday season can be a sad time.
12Or some people just do not like holidays.
13If you are not really into holidays, for whatever reason, you can say, "I'm not really in the holiday spirit."
14But let's say you love holidays and are in the holiday spirit.
15If you get invited to some special holiday events, you can say you'll be there with bells on.
16For example, if I invite you to a holiday party or dinner, you can say, "Thanks! I'll be there with bells on!"
17This doesn't mean that you will actually wear bells.
18It means you are very excited to attend the event.
19However, if you want to wear bells... well, you can do that too!
20The expression I'll be there with bells on does not have to be used just for a holiday party.
21For example, let's say you are invited to a birthday party, you can also say you'll be there with bells on.
22Now for better or worse, gift-giving is a big part of many holidays.
23So, let's talk about some expressions that come from gift-giving.
24Sometimes the best things in life are very small and simple.
25For those things you can say, good things come in small packages.
26This expression means you should not judge a gift, or anything, based on its size.
27Many smaller items may be of high quality or value.
28For Christmas in the United States, many people put gifts under the Christmas tree.
29But some people also have stockings for small, less costly gifts and sweets.
30They stuff these stockings with them. So, the gifts are called stocking stuffers!
31Many workplaces celebrate the holidays with gift-giving. But who has the money to buy gifts for all their coworkers? Not many.
32That is why we use Secret Santa for gift-giving with a large group. Everyone in the group picks the name of one other person.
33That is the person you buy a gift for, and you become their Secret Santa.
34It is also common for large families or large friend groups to have a Secret Santa.
35It saves everyone money and it is a lot of fun.
36Many children who celebrate Christmas are warned that Santa is watching them throughout the year.
37If they are good, they go on the nice list.
38If they are bad they go on the naughty list.
39Naughty means your behavior is a little bad.
40And parents tell children that those on the naughty list will not get any gifts or they will get something they don't want, like a lump of coal in their stockings.
41So, if you are on Santa's naughty list, do not expect to get anything nice under the tree.
42You will just get a lump of coal in your stocking.
43And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories.
44Until next year ... I'm Anna Matteo!
1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2December is a special month when many people celebrate holidays around the world. 3There is the Winter Solstice celebration called Dongzhi in China and Toji in Japan. Jewish people celebrate eight days of Hanukkah. And African American culture has seven days of Kwanzaa that ends on New Year's Day. 4In many places around the world, today is a holiday - Christmas! 5So, we will talk about holiday expressions that you can use in American English. 6Let's start with the holiday spirit. 7If you are in the holiday spirit, you feel good about holidays and are looking forward to them. Some people get into the holiday spirit weeks, even months before the actual holiday. 8However, for some people, the holiday season can be a sad time. Or some people just do not like holidays. If you are not really into holidays, for whatever reason, you can say, "I'm not really in the holiday spirit." 9But let's say you love holidays and are in the holiday spirit. If you get invited to some special holiday events, you can say you'll be there with bells on. For example, if I invite you to a holiday party or dinner, you can say, "Thanks! I'll be there with bells on!" 10This doesn't mean that you will actually wear bells. It means you are very excited to attend the event. However, if you want to wear bells... well, you can do that too! 11The expression I'll be there with bells on does not have to be used just for a holiday party. For example, let's say you are invited to a birthday party, you can also say you'll be there with bells on. 12Now for better or worse, gift-giving is a big part of many holidays. So, let's talk about some expressions that come from gift-giving. 13Sometimes the best things in life are very small and simple. For those things you can say, good things come in small packages. 14This expression means you should not judge a gift, or anything, based on its size. Many smaller items may be of high quality or value. 15For Christmas in the United States, many people put gifts under the Christmas tree. But some people also have stockings for small, less costly gifts and sweets. They stuff these stockings with them. So, the gifts are called stocking stuffers! 16Many workplaces celebrate the holidays with gift-giving. But who has the money to buy gifts for all their coworkers? Not many. 17That is why we use Secret Santa for gift-giving with a large group. Everyone in the group picks the name of one other person. That is the person you buy a gift for, and you become their Secret Santa. 18It is also common for large families or large friend groups to have a Secret Santa. It saves everyone money and it is a lot of fun. 19Many children who celebrate Christmas are warned that Santa is watching them throughout the year. If they are good, they go on the nice list. If they are bad they go on the naughty list. 20Naughty means your behavior is a little bad. And parents tell children that those on the naughty list will not get any gifts or they will get something they don't want, like a lump of coal in their stockings. 21So, if you are on Santa's naughty list, do not expect to get anything nice under the tree. You will just get a lump of coal in your stocking. 22And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. 23Until next year ... I'm Anna Matteo! 24Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 25______________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27Winter Solstice - n. the point in the sky occupied by the sun on or about December 22d when winter begins in the northern hemisphere : the December solstice 28bell - n. a hollow usually cup-shaped metallic device that makes a ringing sound when struck 29package - n. a small or medium-sized pack : a covering wrapper or container 30stocking - n. a usually knit close-fitting covering for the foot and leg 31stuff - v. to fill by packing things in 32lump - n. a piece or mass of indefinite size and shape 33______________________________________________________________ 34We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. 35We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 36Write your comment in the box. 37Under the box, you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. 38Click on one image and a box appears. Enter the login for your social media account. Or you may create one on the Disqus system. It is the blue circle with "D" on it. It is free. 39Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.