The end-of-year holiday season is a joyful time for many — but it’s also one of the busiest times of year. From decking the halls to stuffing the turkey, there is no shortage of duties to attend to. Fortunately, there are plenty of fun and quirky words from around the world that are unique to these activities and festivities. Whether you’re a yuleshard having to scurryfunge, or suffering from abbiocco while using a yule-hole, here are some of the best words to use at your next holiday gathering.
Abbiocco
Italians have the perfect word for how many feel after a holiday meal. Abbiocco refers to the drowsiness that occurs after a large meal, making it distinctly different from simple sleepiness before bedtime. Abbiocco also involves a state of pure relaxation while delaying responsibilities, something that tends to occur on holidays. The word originated in central Italy from two verbs, abbioccare and abbioccarsi, meaning “to exhaust” and “to doze off,” respectively.
Bummock
A “bummock” is an alcoholic beverage that is brewed to enjoy at a “merry meeting” — aka the holidays. This Scottish drink has been around since at least the early 19th century, but an older definition of “bummock” (sometimes spelled “boumack”) is “an entertainment anciently given at Christmas by tenants to their landlords,” or a Christmas feast, hence its association with the holidays.
Quaaltagh
The “quaaltagh” is the first person one encounters on New Year’s Day. This word is derived from Manx, an ancient language from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. The root of this term is “quaail,” meaning “to meet.” “Quaaltagh” originally referred to a group that gathered around the holidays to go caroling, but the tradition evolved and the word began to refer to the "first-footer," or first person, who entered the door in the new year. By the mid-19th century, it took on its current meaning, “the first person to cross the threshold,” usually on a holiday.
Schnapsidee
Schnapsidee is a German word that means “booze idea,” something many people have during the holidays. It’s known as a ridiculous, ill-advised idea that sounds like it was made up during a drunken state — sledding off the roof at a holiday party, for example. (Don’t do that!) Germans tend to use the word to describe any outlandish idea, though, whether alcohol was involved or not.
Scurryfunge
To “scurryfunge” is to hurriedly clean the house before company arrives. This word has meant “to move rapidly” since the early 19th century but likely wasn’t used in the sense of a rapid cleanup until the 1950s, when it appeared in U.S. regional dialects. One example was included in the 1975 book Maine Lingo by John Gould: “a hasty tidying of the house between the time you see a neighbor coming and the time she knocks on the door.” “Scurry” means “to move briskly,” but “funge” remains a bit of an etymological mystery.
Yule-hole
It’s quite common to overindulge during holiday meals, and those who do might need to take advantage of a yule-hole. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a “yule-hole” is “the hole in the waist-belt to which the buckle is adjusted, to allow for repletion after the feasting at Christmas.”
Yuleshard
Someone doing their Christmas shopping on December 24 is the definition of a “yuleshard” —a person who waits until the last minute to finish preparations for the holidays. This Scottish word dates to at least the mid-18th century. Its base word, “yule,” is an archaic word for the Christmas season, and “shard” is a corruption of the word “jade,” but not the beautiful green gemstone. “Jade” has been used since the 16th century as an insult in Middle English, describing a worn-out horse.
Featured image credit: FG Trade/ iStock