Dec13

don’t be a yuleshard.

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for a little variety, learn  these words for your next holiday gathering,

some borrowed from foreign languages and others from long ago.

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Someone doing their Christmas shopping on December 24 is the epitome of a Yuleshard  – a person who waits until the last minute to finish preparations for the holidays. This Scottish word dates to at least the mid-18th century. “Yule” is a synonym for the Christmas season, and “shard” is a corruption of the word jade and has been used since the 16th century as an insult in Middle English, referring to a worn-out horse.

Italians have the perfect word for how many feel after a holiday meal. Abbiocco refers to the drowsiness that occurs after a large meal, making it distinct from simple sleepiness before bedtime. It also involves a state of pure relaxation while delaying responsibilities, something that tends to occur on holidays. The word originated in central Italy from two verbs, abbioccare and abbioccarsi, meaning “to exhaust” and “to doze off,” respectively.

 It’s easy to overindulge during holiday meals, and those who do might need to take advantage of a yule-hole. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a yule-hole is “the hole in the waist-belt to which the buckle is adjusted, to allow for repletion after the feasting at Christmas.”

A bummock is an alcoholic beverage brewed to enjoy at a “merry meeting” — aka a holiday party. This Scottish drink has been around since at least the early 19th century, but an 18th century definition of “bummock” (sometimes spelled “boumack”) is “an entertainment anciently given at Christmas by tenants to their landlords.”

 

 

Schnapsidee is a German word that  translates literally as “booze idea,” something many people have during the holidays. It’s a ridiculous, ill-advised idea that sounds like it was made up during a drunken state — sledding off the roof at a holiday party, for example. (Don’t do that!) Germans tend to use the word to describe any outlandish idea, though, whether alcohol was involved or not.

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‘action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often.’

-mark twain

 

 

 

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source credits: word smarts, rachel gresh, vintage postcards, pinterest, bbc, wasau news

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69 responses »

  5. it’s funny, but one of my mother’s brothers and his wife literally did Christmas in their home once my cousins went to sleep on Christmas eve. They decorated, cooked/baked, wrapped gifts, etc. so that when the kids woke up, the entire place had been transformed as if by magic.

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  9. I can’t decide if you have enriched the meaning of Christmas for me OR if I should just ditch Christmas as it will never be the same after reading your post. lol But at least you have given me something new to add to the conversation after the feast has been served.

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  25. thanks for all the new words- and fun post! I used to be a Yuleshard for a long time – and did all my shopping the 24th. But then with a fam – well, often started getting a couple goodies in summer – and then would be done early

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  31. I love these words! Definitely am the opposite of a yuleshard. I need to get things and prepped way ahead of time. But for sure, I’ll be feeling that food coma like that kid after our family Christmas Eve dinner in a few days!

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