• Hogmanay & Auld Lang Syne
• Frequent mistakes
• Idioms on every occasion
• Boxing Day
• Have fun with English
• Christmas Beliefs in Ireland
• Życzenia z okazji świąt Bożego Narodzenia i Nowego Roku
• Merry Chrissie Mate
• The Chinese Horoscope

New Year's Day in Scotland is taken even more seriously than Christmas Day. Many traditions surround "Hogmanay" as the Scots call this time of year. And many cultures have taken up some of the Scottish ways of celebrating the changing of the year. On the stroke of midnight the song "Auld Lang Syne" can be heard in houses and restaurants, not just in Scotland, but in the four corners of the world as well.

Nobody is really sure where the word Hogmanay comes from. Most think it is either Scandinavian or Flemish in origin. It can even be traced back to the time of the Anglo-Saxons, who had a word for Holy Day, Haleg Monath. Christmas time was virtually banned in Scotland by the Protestant Reformation for 400 years, from about the end of the 17th century to the 1950s. Many Scots had to work over the Christmas period as a consequence. This made the celebrations on the eve of the New Year even more important.

Traditions

If you want to have a traditional Scottish New Year then you must do the following:

• Clean the house from top to bottom on December 31st
• Pay off all your debts
• First Footing: at the stroke of midnight the first person to enter your house must be someone male, tall and dark
• Build a bonfire: fires and torch processions can be seen in all major Scottish cities
• Get yourself a haggis. The haggis is a sheep's stomach stuffed with meat and spices. Eat this with lots of whisky, of course
• Sing Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne: what does it mean?

The best known and much loved song reminds us that Scotland's national poet, Robbie Burns, was a writer dedicated not just to the expression of love, but to friedship, also. Auld Lang Syne is always sung as the clock chimes in the New Year. The song very cleverly combines a feeling of satisfaction with the company you are keeping with a sense of loss of companionship due to space or time. Such a note is perfect for New Year's Eve when the mind hovers between retrospection and anticipation. Below are two versions of the song, written in 1788. The first contains the words that were originally written by Burns in a language heavily influenced by Scottish Gaelic:

Below is a paraphrase to show what all that means in modern day English. When people sing it today they are singing a version that is a mixture of the old text and the new:

GLOSSARY:

1. anyway - oznacza "w każdym razie, w każdym przypadku": He said he would not come but he did, anyway.
2. any way - oznacza "w jakikolwiek sposób": Do it any way you like.

1. averse - znaczy "niechętny do, nie zgadzający się lub w opozycji do". Często używany w formie negatywnej: I am not averse to women politicians. They are not averse to drinking alcohol. Zauważ: Averse nie może być użyte bezpośrednio przed rzeczownikiem.
2. adverse - oznacza "niekorzystne, niegościnne" i częściej używane jest do opisywania rzeczy niż ludzi: adverse weather, adverse reports.

Ja stawiam!

Czasy są takie, że wspólne wyjście do kina czy restauracji zazwyczaj oznacza, że każdy płaci za siebie. Anglicy mówią wtedy - "we go Dutch". Jednak nie zaszkodzi wiedzieć, jak brzmi zaproszenie na kolacje. "I'd like to take you out for diner" - to najprostsza wersja. Możemy też powiedzieć "I'd like to treat you to some pasta", również jeśli ten ktoś sam gotuje. W kontekście restauracyjnym "ugościć makaronem" oznacza w "postawić makaron".

Jeśli w gronie przyjaciół w pubie zakrzykniemy "I pay sause for all!", lepiej sprawdzić zawartość portfela, bo właśnie postawiliśmy wszystkim kolejkę.

GLOSSARY:

If you have nothing urgent to take care of the day after Christmas, stay out of exclusive stores and boutiques in America. You might trample, crushed or even badly bruised by the swarms of women fighting for merchandise and attention from the shop clerks. A woman with a mission is very dangerous to stampede surroundings, so beware! It`s a bit like stampede a of elephants at a watering hole.

December 26th is one of the busiest retail days of the year and sales are very high. Most department stores and the smaller more exclusive shops are buzzing.

The day before Christmas, gifts have been exchanged between husband and wife. Men being men, sometimes the new blouse, or the new hat, is too big, or too small, o worse, the wrong color. Sometimes there was no "gift" per se, as the man didn`t have the imagination to think of a present that his lady would like. So for the lazy man, a gift of cash, a check, or "paper money" in the form of a gift certificate from the lady`s favorite store is the best he can come up with. With one of these in hand, the female mind is rapidly calculating what to exchange her unwanted gift for, or better still, what she can buy with a given amount of money or gift certificate value. Many women, who already had anticipated a "money" gift, have already selected or ordered something well beforehand. The 26th is the day to pay for it and take it home.

That`s why most women are on their feet very early and making a beeline to stores throughout the country. They`re off to exchange those poorly selected gifts for something they would rather have. If there is money in their purse, they are buying what they want and have the funds for it.

My advice for December 26th is: consider only window-shopping and put off your purchases until the following day: it`s the only way to survive.

GLOSSARY:

When talking of Christmas traditions and beliefs, it is important to remember that many belong to a world that has long passed, and as a result they have little currency in modern-day Ireland. That being said, Christmas in Ireland still continues to be a fusion of both modern and ancient customs. Although Christmas celebrates the joyous coming of the infant Jesus into the world, the Irish do not forget the sufferings of the Holy Family prior to the birth. They remember Mary, the mother of Jesus, heavily laden with child, and she and her husband, Joseph, homeless and wandering from place to place in search of a shelter. In remembrance therefore of the sufferings of the Holy Family on Christmas Eve, a candle is left in the window of every home as a symbolic guide to them. It is also thought that cows and donkeys, traditionally held to be present at the divine birth, are given the power of speech at midnight on Christmas Eve so that they may utter their praises of the divine infant.

December 28th, however , remains a particularly sad day in the Christmas calendar as it commemorates the slaughter of the innocents. Given the sadness of the occasion it is generally considered inadvisable to begin a new enterprise of any sort as only bad luck could follow. Happily though, New Year's Day is thought to be an excellent day to begin a task as it marks the coming year with a fresh start. Even more advantageously, all new tasks begun on New Year's Eve will carry good luck with them throughout the year.

The last night of the Christmas period is known as the Epiphany and is popularly known as Women's Christmas. This day recognizes all the hard work that women have put in over the Christmas period. Usually women congregate in someone's house to feast and drink and generally enjoy the pleasure of each other's company. Just as the Epiphany ends and the period of Christmas concludes, on the stroke of midnight three marvels are supposed to briefly take place: well water is said to turn to wine; rushes become silk and sandstone becomes gold. However, observation of these miracles is considered unwise as various stories abound, and in the past, some brave adventurers are said to have turned to stone for their troubles.

GLOSSARY:

1. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year!
2. Happy Christmas and a better year in 200... . !
3. With best wishes for Christmas and the New Year!
4. Greetings of the season and best wishes for the New Year!
5. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
6. With Christmas greetings and all good wishes for the New Year to you all!
7. Christmas greetings and all good wishes for your health and happiness in the coming year!
8. With every good wish for a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!
9. We hope your Christmas and New Year are filled with happiness.
10. Wishing you all the joy of a very merry Christmas and good luck in the New Year!
11. Sincerely wishing you Christmas happiness and all that will bring you joy in the New Year.
12. May the peace and happiness of Christmas be with you throughout the New Year!

When the first British settlers arrived in Australia 200 years ago, they were determined to maintain as many of the traditions of the Old Country as they could. That included hearty, several-course Christmas dinners. But December in Australia is very different from December in Europe. As Australia is located in the low-to-mid latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas falls in the middle of a long, hot summer.

With time, the settlers adjusted to the climate and reversal in the seasons. Nowadays, many Aussies celebrate Christmas with a champagne breakfast on the beach or with a backyard barbie.

The arrival of large numbers of southern European immigrants during the middle of the 20th century also helped change the way the Aussies celebrate Christmas, with many switching to salads, pasta and wine.

About one in 50 Australians has Polish ancestry. In the major cities, you can attend gatherings of Polish-Australian where the traditional Polish dinner of carp is consumed with gusto. In church is not a central part of Christmas for most.

In a weird attempt to adjust to the local climate, some Australians have a "Christmas" dinner in July! That's the coldest month Down Under, when there's snow in the Australian Alps and much of southern Australia can experience sub-zero temperatures at night. That's when Aussies will have the whole shebang turkey and stuffing, roast potatoes, Christmas pudding and so on.

Some Christmas traditions like turkey and Christmas trees came from America.

But others are completely home-grown. Western Australia has its own native Christmas trees, but they look completely different from the spruces and firs of the Northern Hemisphere. At this time of year, these Antipodean Christmas trees are covered in bright orange and become a prominent feature of the landscape in the region around Perth.

In eastern Australia there are Christmas beetles - winged incest that look like cockroaches with potbellies, or big black buttons. They're called Christmas beetles because around this time of year - their breeding done - they fly into houses with the aerial skill of drunk bumble-bees, banging into walls and people, before falling to the floor, usually landing upside down with their legs kicking helplessly in the air.

Being so far east, Australia is one of the first countries in the world to see in the New Year. Sydney and Melbourne will see in 2003 a full 10 hours before Poland does. Australia's Pacific islands of Norfolk and Lord Howe will be in 2003 even before that. On the west coast, Perth will see in the New Year seven hours ahead of Poland. That's when people here will say "Happy Newie , mate !".

GLOSSARY:

Which animal are you?

According to legend, Buddha summoned all the animals of the earth to a meeting. The first 12 species of animal to show up were designated as the 12 signs of the Chinese zodiac. The lucky animals were the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, geat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The Chinese horoscope is based on the year in which you were born, and not the month, as in the Western tradition.

To work out which animal sign you come under then see below.

	Rat - Born in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 People born under the sign of the Rat are Considered by the Chinese to be aggressive, ambitious, suspicious, and power-hungry.
	Ox - Born in 1913, ,1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973 1985, 1997, 2009 Ox is the symbol of powerful individuals. They are natural-born leaders and they make great parents.
	Tiger - Born in 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010 As a fighting animal, Tigers are sensitive But unpredictable. They make great explorers, or racing car drivers. A Tiger and a Dog make great partners.
	Rabbit - Born in 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 Rabbits are affectionate and loving. They are cautious and avoid conflict. Rabbits make good diplomats.
	Dragon - Born in 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 Intelligent, gifted, popular and Successful. Dragons are born to be Politicians, priests or artists.
	Snake - Born in 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013 Snakes are clever, passionate, but can be a little vain. They make good {English} teachers. Roosters are their perfect partners.
	Horse - Born in 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 Hardworking, cunning, but should be careful of being too egotistical. Horses get along well with Tigers and Dogs.
	Goat - Born in 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015 Warm-hearted, honest, but a little disorganized and vulnerable. Geat make very good gardeners.
	Monkey - Born in 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016 Inventive, entertaining, but can be unpredictable and even a little dangerous. They always have a lot of friends but cannot be totally trusted.
	Rooster - Born in 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017 Shrewd but arrogant, Devoted to work, but tend to Be boastful. The sign promises Harmony with Snakes, but Trouble with Rabbits.
	Dog - Born in 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018 Loyal and faithful, dogs make the best friends. They can Have s sharp tongue, however, And can be a worrier. If you are a Dog then be careful of Dragons.
	Pig - Born in 1922, 1934, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2006, 2019 The last animal to show up for the party. Pigs are shy, shy affectionate, kind, imaginative and have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. The Pig will be successful in financial matters.