Driftless
Donor
And for the English (as in, recent immigrants rather than descendants of 'colonial era' ones), crumpets and marmite?
OK, that works. I sampled marmite..... once...... Shall we say, it is an acquired taste.
Silliest Cultural Traits
- Thread starter Breezy
- Start date
OK, that works. I sampled marmite..... once...... Shall we say, it is an acquired taste.
Imperator Maximilianius
Banned
OK, that works. I sampled marmite..... once...... Shall we say, it is an acquired taste.
What do you expect? Its slogan is "love it or hate it".
Don't forget our most stylish fashion accessory in summer: SOCKS AND SANDALS.and stealing 'Beware of Moose' Signs
Seriously, I will never understand how anybody can not find that awesome.
I'm so glad my family had the good sense to retain the tradition of cooking lefse and ignore the fact that lutefisk is a thing.Not really silly, but one of the oddities common many of the US immigrant food cultures: most seem to have a flat bread of some type, and a food unique to it's native culture that repels most other groups
For example: from my Norwegian ancestors: Lefse (potato starch & flour flat bread) and Lutefisk (reconstituted dried cod (looks like and has the mouth feel of transluscent white jello......). One of my freinds, who is Jewish, contributed Matzo & Gefilte fish. Tortillas & Menudo from Mexico and so on.
I think part of this pattern is that each are peasant food and a way of retaining some cultural connection to the home society
Marmite's wierd in that it's not a taste you can acquire, you either love it ot hate it. Personally I loathe the stuffOK, that works. I sampled marmite..... once...... Shall we say, it is an acquired taste.
Driftless
Donor
I'm so glad my family had the good sense to retain the tradition of cooking lefse and ignore the fact that lutefisk is a thing.
My older brother genuinely enjoyed lutefisk ( I don't...). He also described lutefisk as "catfish bait that escaped". (For those not familiar with classic catfish bait, it is usually made from foul, stinky, decomposing meat and/or cheese.) Lutefisk isn't as bad as that, it's just another acquired taste.
Sior
Banned
Like most other parts of Britain, Wales has long had its own Christmas and New Year traditions, practices and superstitions that have now largely died out - which is something of a shame as they are fascinating examples of social history.
Mistletoe was supposed to protect the family from evil while holly was there as a symbol of eternal life. When you consider that mistletoe had always been regarded as the sacred plant of the ancient druids it is not too difficult to see its importance as a symbol for people living in isolated parts of rural Wales.
The old Welsh custom of plygain has now totally died out. It was an early service in either church or chapel, sometimes beginning as early as three in the morning. At this service men - always men, never women - would sing Christmas carols for three or four hours, unaccompanied and in three part harmony.
Whilst waiting for plygain to begin families would occupy themselves in Taffy making.
Toffee would be boiled in pans over the open fire and then, when it was almost cooked, huge mounds of the toffee would be dropped into ice cold water. The moment it hit the water the "Taffy" would curl into strange and unusual shapes. Some of these shapes closely resembled letters and were thought by younger family members to indicate the initials of any future love.
One less than palatable tradition on Boxing Day was that of holly beating. Boys and young men would take sprigs of holly and roam the streets looking for young women. When they encountered them they would hit out at their arms and legs, beating them with the holly - sometimes until their victims bled.
One variation of this violent tradition - which probably had its origins in the scourging of Christ on his way to the cross - was for the last person out of bed on Boxing Day morning to be beaten with the holly sticks. Thankfully, for all concerned, this tradition seems to have died out towards the end of the 19th century.
As with Scotland, the tradition of "first footing" was always important in Wales. There were differences, however. If the first visitor across a Welsh threshold was either a woman or a red haired man it was considered terribly unlucky for the household.
Another important Welsh tradition in the Victorian Age was to never lend anything on New Year's Day. A person's behaviour on that auspicious day was usually considered to be an indication of the way they would conduct themselves for the rest of the year.
The most renowned of the New Year traditions in Wales, however, was that of the Mari Lwyd, the phrase meaning the Grey Mare.
There have been attempts to revive the tradition in certain parts of the country - not entirely successfully. The Mari Lwyd was a horse's skull covered with a white sheet and ribbons. It had false ears and eyes and was carried on a long pole.
Gangs of men and young boys would carry the Mari Lwyd from door to door. They had usually consumed copious amounts of alcohol and the procession would be accompanied by a growling cacophony of noise.
When a door was opened the householder would be assailed by poems and insults - in Welsh - and to this they were expected to reply in like form. When the verbal battle had been won or lost the Mari Lwyd and her followers were invited inside for yet another drink.
In the 19th century the churches and chapels began to object to the violence and drunkenness that invariably accompanied a visit from the Mari Lwyd and, gradually, the singing of carols began to replace the poems and insults. There are many who say this "watering down" of the tradition led to the eventual demise of the Mari Lwyd.
Calennig is another Welsh custom that died out at the end of the 19th century. From dawn until dusk on 1 January small parties of boys would pass from house to house in the village or town, carrying twigs of evergreen plants and cups or jugs of water. They would use the twigs to splash water at people and, in return, would receive the calennig - small copper coins.
Christmas, of course, did not end until Twelfth Night and in Wales the custom of hunting the wren was something that took place on this last night of festivities. Men would catch a wren, put it in a wooden box and carry it from door to door. Householders would then pay a penny for the privilege of lifting the lid of the box in an attempt to see the tiny bird.
These days there are very few traditions that have survived. Time, of course, changes everything and many of the old customs were politically very incorrect. Yet they remain an important part of our history.
In the days before Christmas it was always customary to decorate your house with huge swathes of mistletoe and holly.Mistletoe was supposed to protect the family from evil while holly was there as a symbol of eternal life. When you consider that mistletoe had always been regarded as the sacred plant of the ancient druids it is not too difficult to see its importance as a symbol for people living in isolated parts of rural Wales.
The old Welsh custom of plygain has now totally died out. It was an early service in either church or chapel, sometimes beginning as early as three in the morning. At this service men - always men, never women - would sing Christmas carols for three or four hours, unaccompanied and in three part harmony.
Whilst waiting for plygain to begin families would occupy themselves in Taffy making.
Toffee would be boiled in pans over the open fire and then, when it was almost cooked, huge mounds of the toffee would be dropped into ice cold water. The moment it hit the water the "Taffy" would curl into strange and unusual shapes. Some of these shapes closely resembled letters and were thought by younger family members to indicate the initials of any future love.
One less than palatable tradition on Boxing Day was that of holly beating. Boys and young men would take sprigs of holly and roam the streets looking for young women. When they encountered them they would hit out at their arms and legs, beating them with the holly - sometimes until their victims bled.
One variation of this violent tradition - which probably had its origins in the scourging of Christ on his way to the cross - was for the last person out of bed on Boxing Day morning to be beaten with the holly sticks. Thankfully, for all concerned, this tradition seems to have died out towards the end of the 19th century.
As with Scotland, the tradition of "first footing" was always important in Wales. There were differences, however. If the first visitor across a Welsh threshold was either a woman or a red haired man it was considered terribly unlucky for the household.
Another important Welsh tradition in the Victorian Age was to never lend anything on New Year's Day. A person's behaviour on that auspicious day was usually considered to be an indication of the way they would conduct themselves for the rest of the year.
The most renowned of the New Year traditions in Wales, however, was that of the Mari Lwyd, the phrase meaning the Grey Mare.
There have been attempts to revive the tradition in certain parts of the country - not entirely successfully. The Mari Lwyd was a horse's skull covered with a white sheet and ribbons. It had false ears and eyes and was carried on a long pole.
Gangs of men and young boys would carry the Mari Lwyd from door to door. They had usually consumed copious amounts of alcohol and the procession would be accompanied by a growling cacophony of noise.
When a door was opened the householder would be assailed by poems and insults - in Welsh - and to this they were expected to reply in like form. When the verbal battle had been won or lost the Mari Lwyd and her followers were invited inside for yet another drink.
In the 19th century the churches and chapels began to object to the violence and drunkenness that invariably accompanied a visit from the Mari Lwyd and, gradually, the singing of carols began to replace the poems and insults. There are many who say this "watering down" of the tradition led to the eventual demise of the Mari Lwyd.
Calennig is another Welsh custom that died out at the end of the 19th century. From dawn until dusk on 1 January small parties of boys would pass from house to house in the village or town, carrying twigs of evergreen plants and cups or jugs of water. They would use the twigs to splash water at people and, in return, would receive the calennig - small copper coins.
Christmas, of course, did not end until Twelfth Night and in Wales the custom of hunting the wren was something that took place on this last night of festivities. Men would catch a wren, put it in a wooden box and carry it from door to door. Householders would then pay a penny for the privilege of lifting the lid of the box in an attempt to see the tiny bird.
These days there are very few traditions that have survived. Time, of course, changes everything and many of the old customs were politically very incorrect. Yet they remain an important part of our history.
I always thought Gesundheit was Yiddish?
I enjoy the American Jewish tradition of Chinese food and a movie on Christmas (though my family sometimes does Indian food these days).
In all sincerity, yes; you see it all the time here in summer. And I don't really see a problem with it anyway, it's actually very comfortable.
Driftless
Donor
You see it sometimes in the northern tier of the US - April/early May and again October/early November. Here it seems to be driven by desparation; an I-don't-want-it-to-be-winter denial.
Well, it's funny you mention that. In Cincinnati, which at one point had a huge German speaking population,when they can't hear you, they say "Please?" instead of saying "Pardon?" or "What?". This is a direct translation of the German "Bitte?" or "Wie bitte?" when they want you to repeat something.Even more hilarious: last vestige of a culture? A sneeze-related term
Yeah, why do you folks do that?!?!?!?!?!?! I've never gotten a good answer
Well, because... it's fun.
There is also the theory that it might be a case of genetic memory, coming from the traumatic events in the trenches of WW1.
Driftless
Donor
An awful lot of fashion from any era and culture is fair game for this thread. You can make the case that all current fashion in history is largely designed to identify and cull out the less connected. Of course, the inverse is true later on.... The more hip you appear today, the goofier you will appear to your descendants.