that was pretty tough. Some of these words don't really have anything to do with christmas...like Icicle, chimney, or fireplace. I get why they are on here, but i'm sure there are more "christmasy" words that can be used (besides, there are only icicles during christmas on half of the planet). Also, some leniency on the spelling of Frankincense would be handy. I know all of the letters are there, but i spent a lot of time mentally marking off letters that i used and replacing 'e' with 'i' and 'c' with 's'. I eventually had to look it up anyways :-)
If you hadn't included so much serious commentary, that would have been a really funny joke! But then I realized with sadness, that you were *actually* asking for spelling leniency on a word scramble quiz… I hope you can see how that might struck some of us as, well, kind of nuts.
On a timed quiz, who can be bothered to sit there and tick off all the letters in a word that, as silly as it might seem to you, is a bit of a tricky spelling for a lot of people. I don't feel it's that ridiculous to ask for leniency. Letters can be very hard to visualise and organise under time pressure, particularly if you have dyslexia or something. Just think a bit beyond your own bubble, guys
Only missed fireplace. I agree with buck a lot of the words aren't specifically about Christmas at all: fireplace, icicle, chimney, even sleigh. Those who have icicles don't think they are special about Christmas and those who don't. Well they don't have them. I also have a bit of a problem of many words being religious. I know Christmas as a word is a Christian holiday, but it's so secular these days anyway. I'd remove manger and Bethlehem. Nativity is fine. -- but anyway that's my 2 cts and so on.
I'm not sure how everyone else celebrates the season, but at our house "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" require a fireplace, which is also the location for hanging one's stocking, not to mention Santa's preferred method of illegal entry. Icicles denote the cold of winter - even people who celebrate in tropical areas send Christmas cards with winter scenes, and Santa comes from the North Pole where they have a few icicles here and there. I celebrate the religious holiday, but I also enjoy the fun secular parts, too. All you grinches be careful or you'll get only coal and switches in your stockings this year.
I don't know if this is what the quiz maker had in mind for icicle, but we hang dangling strands of silvery tinsel on our tree. The package calls them "Icicles".
How in the world could I forget the silver icicles hanging on the tree? I detest them because for months after Christmas I would be vacuuming them up from some hiding place under the couch or attached to someone's coat. I detest them so much that once for a joke my daughter used scads of them for packing material in the Christmas gifts she shipped to us. Easter grass is just as bad.
dunkinggandalf, you say that Christmas is not rooted to Christianity? Dude, take a look at the word itself!!!! Hello?! CHRISTmas!! REALLY?! It's pretty obvious that CHRISTmas was based on CHRIST's birth! You know, December 25th is His birthday?!
He may be referring to the idea that the season in which we celebrate Christmas is/was about the same time as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Since no one really knows when Christ was actually born, some believe the early church chose to set the celebration of his birth during the same time as the pagan celebrations to hopefully turn them toward the Christian celebration instead. There are lots of theories about the date of his birth. Some think it is about the same time as Passover because that is when he went to the temple at age 12, and some think that would have been at the time of his 12th birthday. I don't care what the true date is, but to say that Christmas is not rooted in Christianity seems absurd to me. The holiday we call Christmas began as a celebration of the birth of Jesus, regardless of why the specific date was chosen, or what the holiday has become in the secular world.
Christmas is a religious festival (which has now become extremely commercialised) so complaining that some words are not about Christmas and then complaining about those that clearly are linked to Christmas seems somewhat hypocritical.
Remove manger and bethlehem? They are pretty essential parts of the story. With nativity it would be baby gets born ... somewhere.. doesn't really sound like Christmas anymore.
Just because Christmas isn't "as Christian.as it used to be" doesn't mean we take away the Christian elements. Nativity is LITERALLY depicting Jesus's birth, yet manager should go? Please don't take away the religion behind religious things. Thank you in advance
Great job on the quiz! I really like that you included the religious part of Christmas in it, because it doesn't matter what anyone says, Christmas IS a Christian holiday. Notice the word "Christ" before "mas." People have turned the holiday into a big commercial, but the only religious group who actually celebrate Christmas for what it really means are Christians. Jews (with the exception of Messianic Jews) don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God. That's what makes them Jews and not Christians. Then for Islam, well, Mohammed is to Islam as Jesus is to Christianity. Basically. So including something about Odin or Saturnalia would not make this a Christmas quiz. And I don't have anything against Jews or Islamists, I'm simply pointing out that the only religious group who truly celebrate Christmas is Christians. The other religions have their special days that Christians don't take part in. Yom Kippur, Hannukah, Ramadan, etc.
It's a red and green plant which originated in Mexico and Central America. Its Christmas colors and star-shaped bracts helped it become a symbol of Christmas throughout most of North America. (It was named for Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US minister to Mexico who is credited with making it popular in the US in 1825.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poinsettia
I like this quiz, but it seems like half of the people are complaining because "______" isn't a Christmas word, and the other half are complaining because "_____" is a Christmas word. Good quiz though.
Y'all, stop getting salty. Not only Christians celebrate Christmas. It's a big holiday for us Atheists aswell. And it's not only celebrated within Europe, Oceania and the America's, people celebrate it all over the world in Japan, China, South Africa you name it.
I heard that in Japan everyone just lives in sin. They pray to several gods and put needles in their skin. On December 25th all they do is eat a cake. And that is why I go to Japan and walk around and say...
Its not that China celebrates Christmas its that there are over 100 million Christians in China. Having lived for 2 years in Shanghai I can tell you that China does not officially celebrate Christmas but since there are many Christians the holiday is noticed by most. Religions have no borders so Christmas is definitely celebrated around the world but by Christians living in those countries.
Tough one. Got caroling with 2 seconds left, with fireplace and poinsettia the others that were pretty hard for me. Had to type the letters in a different order in the answer box just to give my brain something else to look at.
It was pretty tough for anyone that's not a puzzle grandmaster.
Away in a German, no crib for a bed...
Mary
Joseph
Manger
Star
Bethlehem
Inn
Wisemen
I think its time for another quiz.