Sometimes , there are thing we do as part of a tradition without really consider where the practice may have started . It ’s easy to forget that many of the rituals that we automatically take part in today had their base in something entirely different – and sometimes surprising . Why does a marriage political party include a good man ? What ’s the purpose ofkissingunder a twig ofmistletoe ? Do birthday candles have any peculiar significance , or are they just fun to shove off out ? Why do we make New Year ’s resolutions ?
Let ’s take a looking at at these and some other seemingly normal recitation that may have unexpected origins . You ’ll never appear at your pet traditions the same manner again !
10: A Wedding’s Best Man
usually the hostler ’s brother or best friend , the full man brook beaming next to the married man - to - be . Sometimes he even cries . But yesteryear , he would ’ve held asword . You have it off why he stands so nigh to the groom ? So he can intercede with his blade if needed . So where does that " just " part issue forth in ? He was literally the groom ’s best swordsman .
This tradition hails back to the day when a wedding was a financial transaction – and as we all know , sometimes financial transactions can go bad . Should the bride ’s father have second cerebration or a lovelorn rival spring from the raftman , it was the best man ’s job to ensure the deal locomote down as planned .
If kidnapping became necessary , the best man was themuscle . Later , he stood guard outside the nuptial bedroom .
9: Kissing Under the Mistletoe
The Ancient Celts usedmistletoeas an animalaphrodisiac , or more specifically , to increase the rankness of sheep . Such became the mythical business leader of mistletoe that in addition to bringing a lamb - ful spring , mistletoe was hang over doorways to ward offfire , lightningand evil strong drink . But despite its protective properties , mistletoe could n’t shuck its fertile past times , and even though it was hung in citizenry ’s room access , it seemed as if something quixotic should come about in its presence .
Thus thekissing .
Did you know that mistletoe ’s power runs out ? Every clip a piece steals a kiss under the Loranthus europaeus , he must pay by tweak one of its Charles Edward Berry . When the berries are gone , no more hugging .
8: Pinky Swear
Who has n’t , at some point or another , made a pinky swear with a skilful friend or a youngster ? The pinkie swear is the highest of all hope , an unbreakable curse word – and , in fact , what you ’re saying with this oath is that if you violate it , the wronged company may cut off your pinkie . The center of the custom ( if not the bloody follow - through ) is a recentimmigrantto the United States , having arise with the Japanesemafia , orYakuza .
The Nipponese tooth root of the little finger swear are patent in its coarse use in anime movie , where it is acknowledge asyubikirior " finger’s breadth reduce off . "
7: Birthday Candles
What celestial organic structure does a round , frost cake most resemble ? If you enjoin themoon , then you fit in with the Ancient Greeks , who first put candles on cake pop the question to Artemis , goddess of the moon . Some historians think the candles were used only to lend the bar a lunation - like glow . Others cogitate that when the candela were blown out , their smoking was supposed to comport the birthday humans ’s or womanhood ’s want skywards to the goddess .
Whatever the typeface , candles cause more than 15,000 residentialfiresevery twelvemonth [ author : Candles.org ] . There is no data describing the presumably uncountable annual toll of birthday candles on kids ' hair’s-breadth and brow .
6: New Year’s Resolutions
When the calendar flip over to January 1 , we start to make promises to ourselves . This yr , we ’ll lose weight . We ’ll be more organised . We ’ll expend more time with our families . But why is this the time for resolutions ?
The Roman god Janus had two heads – one that depend forth into the hereafter and one that look into the yesteryear . And while many Roman rulers made a land snatch for the months of the year – see August , October and July – Janus stand strong at the beginning of the twelvemonth . This is January . And on the first day of January , we look back at the year past and then ahead at the twelvemonth to fare .
5: The Detroit Red Wings Octopus
In 1952 , it convey exactly eight wins – two proficient - of - seven serial publication – to win the Stanley Cup . And so it seemed only natural that fishmongering brother Pete and Jerry Cusimano throw away anoctopusonto the ice at the beginning of that twelvemonth ’s playoffs , each tentacle symbolizing a need win . In 1952 , they cause them – all eight in a rowing , tangle the playoff and solidifying the puzzling cephalopod mollusk ’s presence on playoff ice from that distributor point forward .
Notably , during the 1995 playoff , fishmongering co - workers Bob Dubisky and Larry Shotwell threw a 50 - pound ( 22.7 - kilo ) octopus onto the ice during the national anthem before the conference final exam .
4: Flipping the Bird
As any number one wood of freeway in California or New Jersey knows , an drawn-out mediate fingerbreadth is a gesture of acknowledgement from one driver to another , a fashion of saying , " Thank you for sharing this brusk time on the itinerary of human individualisation with me . "
In fact , this heartwarming motion has roots in ancient Rome , where the digitus impudicus , or " impudent finger’s breadth , " was a sign of condescension , much as it is today . Specifically , the popish historian Martial writes , " Laugh loudly , Sextillus , when someone calls you a queen and put your middle digit out . "
So , if you were somehow transported back to the fourth dimension of Julius Caesar , rest assured that you would have at least one means of communicating .
3: The High-five
The low-pitched - five grew out of African - American cultural tradition and was steadfastly establish by at least World War II . When exactly the abject - five went high is up for some argumentation , as detail in avery entertaining articlepublished by ESPN the Magazine . The gist is this : Despite his claims , it ’s very improbable that Magic Johnson make up the high - five while at Michigan State . More likely , it ’s an artifact of the women ’s volleyball circuit , circa 1960 .
But most likely is that it was , in fact , manufacture by Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker upon attain the home scale of Dodger Stadium after hitting his thirtieth homerun of the season on Oct. 2 , 1977 . On the other end of the high - five was outfielder Glenn Burke , who after retreat frombaseballwas the first gay baseball game player to come out of the W.C. . His frequent use of the gamey - five in San Francisco ’s Castro District serve make the gesture a sign of gay pride .
2: Ketchup on Hotdogs
What ’s more American than tomato ketchup on a hotdog eaten high in a ballpark ’s sales booth in summertime while singe the national hymn ? Nothing , that ’s what . That this internal condiment traces its roots to late seventeenth - one C China should n’t weigh at all , should it ? It was in the 1690s that a sauce of pickle Pisces and spice up name koe - chiap gain ground popularity .
One hundred years later , it had migrated and morphed into an English staple and then an American one . An 1801 cookbook by Sandy Addison called " The Sugar House Cookbook " prints the stick with recipe :
1: Election Tuesday
Does it seem a bit random that the United States vote on a Tuesday in November ? Why not , say , a Saturday in May , which seems a much more civic pronouncement ?
Blame it on our agrarian past . In early November , most of the crop are in , yet the crap route remain dry enough to travel over by horse and buggy . And in the clock time when these things were being decided , polling station were n’t yet as ubiquitous ascoffeeshops in Seattle . Commonly , it took an overnight trip-up to reach a polling station at the county seat . One could n’t jaunt on Sunday , so Monday was decree out as Election Day . Likewise , most markets were held afterward in the hebdomad , so after vote early on Tuesday sunrise , farmers could quickly reverse course of instruction to make it home in time to deal their latterly harvested crops .
For more article on cultivation and custom , look into out the links on the next Sir Frederick Handley Page .
