Aah…its Thursday! And for me it’s a happy Thursday for sure! Why? Well….My birthday has just gone and I had a really good time!🎉🎂
Right from childhood, almost everyone looks forward to birthdays. ( Although, nowadays the thought, that with every birthday, we are also inching towards being called elderly does pop its ugly head once in a while😕)As a child, I used to eagerly wait for my birthday, the new dress and the wonderful dishes my mom used to make. But the icing on the cake, quite literally, 😊 used to be the big beautiful cake my father used to bring for me, especially from Flurys, a popular cake shop at Park Street at Kolkata. The cake cutting was the special moment, right from blowing the candles, to singing the song, to eating and relishing every bite of that wonderful culinary delight! Even now when I go to Kolkata, I make it a point and gorge myself on the absolutely delicious and sinful pastries of the same shop!
The party, the balloons, the presents from friends and the various birthday games we used to play are some really cherished memories.
So, as I said my birthday just went by, and I got thinking on the various terms, phrases, activities that we associate with birthdays and use them quite robotically 🤖 without actually thinking for a bit about where and how they arose 🤔🧐.So today, lets look up some of those!☺️
# *HAPPY BIRTHDAY!* 🌟🎼🎹
A greeting to someone on their birthday.The birthday greeting song ‘Happy birthday to you,’ with the person’s name inserted in the third line after ‘Dear,’ was originally ‘Good Morning to All,’ written in 1893, with words by the American educator Patty Smith Hill and music by her sister, Mildred J. Hill. The present words by Clayton F. Summy were substituted in 1935.”Happy Birthday to You” is ranked as the world’s most frequently sung song as per the ‘Guinness Book of World Records’.
# *BIRTHDAY PARTIES*: 🎉🥳🎊
party to celebrate a birthday.
The tradition of birthday parties started in Europe a long time ago. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family would to come be with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off the evil spirits. This is how birthday parties began.At first it was only kings who were recognized as important enough to have a birthday celebrations. As time went by, children became included in birthday celebrations. The first children’s birthday parties occurred in Germany and were called Kinderfeste.
# *BIRTHDAY CAKE* : 🎂🎂🎂
Cake that is cut on a birthday.The birthday cake is only 200 years old! Cakes made from sweetened bread dough and coated with sugar, were the first birthday cakes and they originated in Germany.It has been said that if the cake falls while baking, (meaning doesn’t bake well) it is a sign of bad luck in the coming year. Coins, buttons, and rings were baked into cakes. The guest who receiving the slice with the coin was guaranteed riches in the future, the ring signified marriage.
# *BLOWING THE CANDLES ON THE CAKE* 🎂🎂🎂In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the Gods. Today, it is believed, that if you blow out all your candles in one breath, your wish will come true. I guess candles give the required quantity of smoke to transfer messages to God. So, the older you become, the more smoke you can create and the faster your messages can get transferred! Talk about finding the silver lining! 😄
# *BIRTHDAY PRESENT* 🎁🎁🎁
A gift that you receive on your Birthday!🎁🎁🎁We can also call it a Gift. But there is an essential difference between present and gift.Gift comes from the old Germanic root for
“to give.” It referred to an act of giving, and then, to the thing being given.
Present comes from the French for “to present”.
A present is the *thing* presented or bestowed.
They were both in use for the idea of something undergoing a transfer of possession without expectation of payment from the 13th century onward.
Gift applies to a wider range of situations. Gifts can be talents. You can have the gift of gab, or a musical gift. Gifts can be intangibles. There is the gift of understanding or the gift of a peaceful day.
Gift is an attributive noun (acting like an adjective to modify another noun) – so a shop where you can buy birthday presents is called – A Gift Shop!We generally don’t use present for intangible things. Presents are more concrete. Something real, which you can hold in your hand – Now, at present! And so it is a ‘present’!😊🎁But essentially, they are both well matched synonyms.
Certain annoying actions like giving birthday bumps and smearing the face with cake have no historical value and are fast disappearing – the sooner the better! 👍🏻
Birthdays are to be cherished as moments of happiness and love. Birthdays celebrate birth. It is an expression of gratitude for being born and still being alive. A time to reflect, to introspect, to replan and surge ahead. But for children, it is *all* and *only* about celebrations! 🎊
I am really feeling nostalgic about my childhood birthday celebrations, aren’t you?
😊
So now that you have gone back in time, lets brush up some of our basics:-Ideally, today we do not have a vocab activity – only my write up. But since I missed conducting the activity last week – these are a few simple questions that I rustled up for you today. Think about the answers, Google them and stay updated:- 😊
Questions:
1. What is the plural of syllabus?
2. Both words originate from the latin word Princeps (meaning first person or chief) – give both the words.
3. What is that figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them?
4. What was the original meaning of the word Bully?
5. Which word meaning the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to till’?
6. What is a teacher, especially a strict, dull and formal one called?
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