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Christmassy Words for Wednesday

Merry Christmas to all our course subscribers and blog readers! Whatever you are doing, we hope you are having a lovely day.  Here is a list of the Christmassy Words for Wednesday we’ve shared over the years:  December 'Decem' is Latin for 'ten', so why is it the twelfth month of the year that’s called December?   Advent Is advent a period of anticipation or a period of reflection?   Pudding Christmas puddings may be delicious, but the origins of this word are less appealing...   Reindeer How long have these creatures been a part of Christmas mythology?   Trim Trim is a Janus word, which me...

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Word for Wednesday: Advent

A blog on things to come… It’s almost that time of year again and whether love it or hate it, Christmas is an opportunity to spend some time with the people who mean the most – and likely eat far more than is good for you! What’s not to look forward to? The word ‘advent’ is derived from the Latin ‘ad’ meaning ‘to’ and ‘venire’ – ‘come’. It’s a word that seems fit to burst with promise and expectation. What do those two words mean to you? ‘To come…’ To me, it almost interrogative: ‘what is to come?’ There is an element of duality within the word too, advent not only anticipates the beginning of something but also brings the previous period to a reflective close – a word trapped in a limb...

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