Christmas in different countries + vocabulary

Christmas around the world

Millions of children around the world are familiar with plump and jolly Santa Claus, much loved of North America, with his red suit, black boots and twinkling eyes. He arrives Christmas Eve bringing gifts from the North Pole in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.

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The phrase Merry Christmas

These days, it’s common  to wish “Merry Christmas” to one another around the 25th of December, the day of Christmas. The origin of this practice is a little obscure. However, it’s believed that an English admiral first used the term Merry Christmas in an informal letter, way back in 1699. In 1843, Charles Dickens used the same phrase in “A Christmas Carol.” However, although  the veracity of its origin, “Merry Christmas” has become a sort of universal term to communicate joy and good wishes.

The Christmas Story + vocabulary

Long ago, about 2000 years, when King Herod ruled Judea (now part of Israel), God sent the angel Gabriel to a young women who lived in the northern town of Nazareth. The girl’s name was Mary and she was going to marry Joseph.