Boxing day
Why is Boxing Day called Boxing Day?
Boxing Day: a time for napping, playing with all the toys you got your hands on at Christmas, and stubbornly refusing to change out of your pyjamas unless there’s a major sale involved.
But what is Boxing Day, other than a day when trains are crap and shops are packed? And how did it get its name?
So. The very, very basics: Boxing Day is the day after Christmas – December 26, celebrated in the UK.
It’s a bank holiday, so banks are closed, shops open later, and public transport definitely isn’t reliable. There are also loads of post-Christmas sales.
Boxing Day’s history and origins are actually fairly contested, as no one is certain of how it got its name.
Some theorise that the name Boxing Day comes from the post-Christmas tradition of churches leaving a box outside their doors to collect money for the less fortunate, while others believe it’s to do with ships, when those aboard would open a box of money to give to a priest in aid of the poor.
But the most commonly believed reason for Boxing Day’s name is to do with servants and their employers.
Back in the middle ages, the day after Christmas was given to servants as a day off, as they had to work on Christmas Day. As the servants left the house their employers would give them a box of Christmas goodies, which they would then share with their families.
Sensing a theme? We’re not sure how or when Boxing Day became all about rushing out to buy more presents for ourselves in the sale, but its origins were definitely in giving money or presents to those less fortunate.
Maybe we should bring it back this year. Skip the sales, and use that cash your aunt sent you to do something lovely.
Comments
You have chosen an interesting article. It’s suitable to Christmas’s time. In my opinion, Boxing Day is similar to “Aguinaldo” in Spanish tradition. According the Spanish dictionary, aguinaldo means a present that you give to everyone provides a service usually as the postman or the dustbin man in Christmas. Also it means the extraordinary pay to the employees in addition to the twelve ordinary monthly pays.
Aguinaldo comes from old Roman people. They were the presents that the friends exchanged in honor of the Gods to order protection at the first of January. They called strenae. This word meant the present, forecast and omen. At first it was the simple present, after, the luxurious present. There were herbaceous aguinaldos, of foots, of the gold, of the silver, of furniture, of the costumes and so on. There were aguinaldos that poor people given to rich men as the Prince, the protectors and the masters.
In Spain, it’s tradition among the children, go over the neighborhood, signing Christmas carol and ordering sweets and candies.
See you.
I´m Belén.
The article seems me interesting and is useful for learn new vocabulary. I didn't know that the day 26 to December was Boxing Day nor that is celebrated in the UK. It would be well get back on this tradition.
See you tomorrow.
Boxing Day is known as St Stephen's Day in some other countries. I had never heard of Aguinaldo.
I don't get an extra month's payment at Xmas time. ^_^
... In my opinion, Boxing Day is similar to “Aguinaldo” in Spanish culture.. According to the Spanish dictionary, aguinaldo means a present that you give to everyone who provides a service such as the postman or the dustbin man at Christmas. It also means an extraordinary payment to employees in addition to the twelve ordinary monthly payments.
Aguinaldo comes from Ancient Rome. They were the presents that friends exchanged in honor of the Gods to order protection on the first of January . They were called strenae. This word meant the present, forecast and omen. At first it was a simple present, then a luxurious present. There were herbaceous aguinaldos, of foots(??), of gold, of silver, of furniture, of costumes and so on. There were aguinaldos that poor people gave to rich men such as the Prince, the protectors and the masters.
In Spain, it’s a tradition among children, go around the neighborhood, singing Christmas carols and ordering(??) sweets and candies.
It's good to see you commenting in the blog.
When you say who you are you should say - Hi! It's Belén.
The article seems interesting and is useful for learning new vocabulary. I didn't know that the 26th of December was Boxing Day nor that is celebrated in the UK. It would be good to get back to this tradition.
It's Lydia.
I knew about Boxing Day tradicion, but I didn't know because it had that name. I think is an interesting and complete text. I've learnt some words.
See you!
It's good to see you making use of the blog.
I already knew about the tradition of Boxing Day but I didn't know why it had that name. I think it is an interesting and complete text.