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Word for Wednesday: Trim

Do you celebrate Christmas? Have you trimmed your Christmas tree yet?  Today’s Word for Wednesday is a Janus word (also known as a contranym or auto antonym). This means it has two contradictory meanings. The term is named for the god of beginnings Janus, whose image – usually depicted with two heads, one looking back into the past and the other looking forward into the future – is often found carved over doorways and gates. In the context of Christmas, trim means ‘to decorate’ or ‘to adorn’. For example:  Each year the family gathers to trim the Christmas tree. For Christmas dinner, we had turkey with all the trimmi...

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Tis the Season for Christmassy Idioms

This year, to get us in the festive spirit, we’ve made a list of all the Chritmassy expressions we could come up with – can you think of any others? a grinch – a grumpy and mean-spirted person a white Christmas – a snowy Christmas all the trimmings – all the traditional accompaniments (usually used in reference to a meal) Bah humbug! – a phrase used to express grumpiness and disdain for Christmas Boxing Day – the day after Christmas (which is a public holiday in Britain) Christmas comes but once a year – since Christmas is celebrated only one time a year,we should make the most of the occasion (this expression is either used to ...

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