North african name looks like a western URL address
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Tree trunk that defecates present
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Ummm…
Very funy, i have one of them. It represents the fertility of the soil.
Defecates is a bad word for that…
Unfortunately, defecating is exactly what it does. It’s not a euphemism. It is literally a pooping log!
And the log it self is also a represenation of defecation. A similar use of the word log in english also exists.
I think I willfully didn’t make that connection. I’m well aware of the English use of log for poop but I guess I hoped there was some other explanation and didn’t want to believe that it was a basically a pooping piece of poop
CRANK THAT LOG
Yes. And you have to beat it until it starts shitting
Time to sing “Caga tió” and beat a log until it gives us sweet treats…
England: “Father Christmas”
Ireland: “make it kinkier”Olentzero is no ordinary old man that brings presents to kids on Christmas, he’s a charcoal burner that is also a Jentil, a giant in the Basque mythology.
He was originally a pagan, but some say he stayed behind and converted to chrisitanism when he saw Jesus about to be born, while the other jentilak escaped. Other less favorable interpretations say he converted and betrayed the rest of the jentilak, showing the people their locations so they could be killed.
All these are modern interpretations for Christmas because afaik originally he was supposed to be somewhat evil.
Source: am basque
This is fascinating, thank you!!
He is also shown as a shepherd, although Jentils would naturally be shepherds I guess. Also another clarification, Gentile are not just giants, but ancestors of Basque people that did not descend from mountains and forests and thus didn’t get civilised and shrink.
Source: another Basque.
This is not completely correct.
In Belgium and the Netherlands it’s Sint-Nicolaas (Sinterklaas) who brings the presents on December 6th. Christmas does have a Santa Claus (Kerstman) because of modern culture, but you’ll mostly see people gifting presents themselves, instead of Santa gifting them.
Yep, these are the Dutch /Flemish names but Wallonia (south Belgium) has the same in French : Saint Nicolas, who brings gifts to kids on Dec 6, and Père Noël at Christmas (but he isn’t as present, and christmas tends to be the family gathering meal and gifts exchange between humans, rather than from the magic winter dude.
Don’t forget Sint-Maarten who brings gifts in November.
The Polish going with Ziggy Stardust. And why the hell not, seems like a fine fellow to bring gifts.
The note on the Low Countries says there’s no traditional Christmas gift-giver, but doesn’t Sinterklaas traditionally bring gifts on Sint Nicolasdaag?
Yes, but that’s a different holiday
A note on Deda Mraz/Дед Мороз - these days it’s 100% conflated with Santa Claus, with the red robe and reindeer. If there is any old Slavic tradition there, it’s been completely lost.
Funny they say France is Father Christmas but Spain it’s Daddy Christmas when they’re the same words technically. Maybe they confused Papá with Papí?
Yeah that’s an error, he’s father Christmas here. On a side note, papi has no accent
Dang it, I corrected it to the wrong thing.
I never use Papi so I didn’t remember if it had one
Papá has one to mark the intonation and to differentiate it from Papa, the pope.
Papi is said with the same intonation as Daddy so it doesn’t have an accent.
Papa is also potato in America, but in Spain we use patata
Yup, but also means pope, so my dad would joke about the potato pope
Varies: the Yule Man.
I need to live somewhere you can call someone Sweaty as an honorific
Kentucky: Sandy Claws.
Translating “julemanden” as “Christmas man” just feels wrong.
You could say “Yule man” instead, but it means the same thing.
Well not exactly. Yule and similar words are used as the word for Christmas in Scandinavian languages but it used to refer to a non-christian tradition. Scandinavian countries are generally not very religious and I personally don’t like the association of yule with christianity.
Came here to point out that “jul” isn’t exactly Christmas. It feels weird seeing “julenisse” be translated as “Christmas gnome” knowing the mythos behind the
little pyromaniac shitterlittle buddy.i’d say it is christmas, but anglophone christmas is how it acts on stream, while yule is when it puts on sweatpants and relaxes.
Its meaning has become conflated with Christmas just as Christmas was stolen from pagan traditions, but that is still its current meaning in English.
Yea but coming from a danish viewpoint, I find it strange to equate them.
Hey, “Apalpador”? You’re gonna have to find a new thing. That’s not gonna fly anymore.
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