December 24 is Christmas Eve, which Westerners call holy night or silent night, Chinese translates to "Christmas Eve." In China, the custom of eating apples on Christmas Eve has quietly arisen, and the apples that are vegetarian-facing on weekdays are dressed up with beautiful ribbons and gift boxes and sold at high prices. So should we eat apples on Christmas Eve? How did this custom come about?
Eating apples on Christmas Eve is not a Western tradition.
● A foreign friend asks on social software:
“why do chinese people like eating apples on christmas eve?”
"Why do Chinese like to eat apples on Christmas Eve?"
●Enthusiastic foreigner netizens answered:
the tradition has its roots in homophones（谐音）. christmas eve translates to ping’anye (平安夜, the evening of peace) which sounds like apple, or pingguo (苹果). on christmas eve, an apple as a gift is no longer called pingguo, but ping’anguo (平安果, the fruit of peace).
"There is a Chinese tradition of harmonic sounds, apple = peace, and apples are called peace fruits on the night of Christmas Eve."
That's right, eating apples on Christmas Eve is entirely something we Chinese create!
As we all know, homophone is a very important thing in China.
8 reads like "hair", so the license plate number and mobile phone number with 8 are sold more expensive, and I feel that an 8 character will definitely make a fortune. On the contrary, just because it reads like "death", the floor with 4 is basically no one wants, and the real estate business will find a way to jump over the 14th floor, too, who will want to buy the house that lives in the "to die". However, if you read the score, the harmonic sound of 14 is obviously "multiple", which is really a paradox.
In fact, Christmas Eve is not called "Christmas Eve" at all in the United Kingdom and the United States, and it is called Christmas Eve, which has nothing to do with Apple at all.
Christmas Eve is originally an imported product, but "ping" and "apple" are harmonious, and "eat apples on Christmas Eve" accurately fits the customs and mentality of Chinese to tell the omen of everything, and shrewd merchants are also happy to take the opportunity to make a lot of money.
Some people also ridicule Chinese eat apples on Christmas Eve on the Internet, but the culture is developed, the mentality may wish to be open, Christmas is just a holiday, the purpose of the festival is to be happy. Chinese eating apples on Christmas Eve is also a contribution to Christmas culture.
● During the Christmas season, adults and children will come to merry christmas! Since you learned English, have you ever wondered why Merry Christmas is only said for Merry Christmas and not happy Christams?
I remember that the English teacher repeatedly stressed on the blackboard in class: "Students please pay attention!" Merry Merry! Don't use happy! Fixed collocation! ”
The phrase "fixed collocation" is really not convincing. Is happy christmas true? if not，why not？ Christmas is coming, about "Merry Christmas", to give you two truths about science popularization.
Truth One
happy christmas from grammar to usage! not! Yes! ask! title!
● Example 1: British drama "Downton Abbey", which has the Earl's family gathered together to eat Christmas dinner, when the male servant served the last dessert, the old countess calmly and gracefully said: "a happy christmas to you all"
The crowd responded in unison to happy christmas!
● Example 2: On the authenticity of English, the Queen of England is absolutely famous and orthodox, and I think everyone will not have any objections to this.
Every year at 3 p.m. on Christmas Day on December 25, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom presents her Christmas greetings. The Christmas Speech, written by the Queen herself, is hailed as the annual Ultimate English Pronunciation Tutorial! Dear students, did you know that the Queen says happy christmas instead of merry christmas at the end of her Christmas speech every year?
The following is an excerpt from Queen Elizabeth's 2015 Christmas speech ↓↓↓↓
there’s an old saying that “it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness”.
There is an old saying that goes well: "It is better to light a candle in the dark than to curse the darkness itself".
there are millions of people lighting candles of hope in our world today. christmas is a good time to be thankful for them, and for all that brings light to ourlives.
There are thousands of people in the world who are lighting candles. Christmas is the best time to thank these people for bringing us light.
i wish you a very happy christmas.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas!
That's the problem! Why does the Queen persistently go off the beaten path, never saying merry christmas, but happy christmas?
It is said that the queen did not see the original meaning of the word merry. Merry, this child, is from a poor background, and in the Victorian period, the word was mainly mixed with the bottom of society, referring to "drinking for pleasure".
Merry's original meaning is "jovial, and outgoing, probably mildly intoxicated", which is lively by nature and may be a little drunk.
The first merry christmas greeting cards, introduced in the 1840s, were also a scene of a family drinking and having fun. (Above)
Only in China is the whole population saying merry christmas on such a large scale!
The British and American countries say merry christmas as well as happy christmas! Especially in the United States, merry christmas is actually relatively rare, the most common saying is happy holiday!
Every year before Christmas, Google will release android New Year videos, which are also written happy holidays!
If you're going to study or work abroad, when you're sending holiday wishes to foreigners during the Christmas season, say happy holidays instead of merry christmas. Here's why:
1. Say happy holidays can include other religious or cultural festivals.
The United States is a very diverse country. When you don't know the other person's religion, saying happy holidays is safer and more common to all.
2. Not everyone celebrates Christmas.
Dr. M.D. English id: yiboyingyu