Here are 12 English Christmas idioms and sayings that can be used during the holiday season.
Christmas is the most popular holiday celebrated in the UK. There are lots of customs and traditions including nativity plays, decorating our homes, singing carols and having a traditional roast turkey dinner on Christmas day.
List of Christmas Idioms
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12 English Christmas Idioms and Sayings
12 English Christmas Idioms and Sayings
🎄 Christmas comes but once a year
As it only happens once a year we should treat people less fortunate than us a bit better in the Christmas season.
Example:
Jane went to the charity shop and made a large donation of cash for homeless people. After all, Christmas only comes once a year.
🎅🏽 To cancel someone’s Christmas
When a person threatens to cancel someone’s Christmas, it means he/she wants to kill or destroy someone (not literally, of course!) as the dead person will miss Christmas.
Example:
If Sam keeps bugging me, I’m going to cancel his Christmas this year.
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🎄 All my Christmases have come together
To experience an event of extremely good luck or happiness, something happened that you were dreaming about.
Example:
Last week I received an amazing job offer and yesterday my boyfriend proposed to me! It feels like all my Christmases have come together.
🎅🏽 To light up like a Christmas tree
Something had a dramatic effect on someone’s mood. Some event or situation made someone very happy.
Example:
Sarah saw a box of chocolates on her desk, and she lit up like a Christmas tree.
12 English Christmas Idioms and Sayings
🎄 Eat, drink and be merry
Enjoy yourselves with good food and drink.
Example:
Welcome to our party! Eat, drink and be merry.
🎅🏽 Trim the tree
to add decorations to the Christmas tree like ornaments, ribbons, baubles, or lace.
Example:
It was a longterm tradition for the whole family to trim the tree together.
🎄 White elephant
a gift exchange in which people bring unwanted items
Example:
– Where did you get that ugly vase?
– Oh, I got it at a white elephant at work.
🎅🏽 Pigs in blankets
A variety of sausage-based foods in the UK, USA and Ireland. In the USA pigs in blankets are small sausages wrapped in croissant rolls.
In the UK the ‘blanket’ is bacon. Pigs in blankets are a perfect accompaniment to the traditional Christmas dinner.
12 English Christmas Idioms and Sayings
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🎄 Like turkeys voting for Christmas
Turkeys are the favourite choice of food for the Christmas dinner. When people accept a decision which is not going to work out well for them it is like turkeys voting for Christmas.
Example:
The teachers agreed to accept the introduction of larger class numbers without any increase in their pay. It was like turkeys voting for Christmas.
🎅🏽 To ring in the New Year
To have a party on New Year’s Eve (31st December) to welcome the New Year. When the church bells ring everyone wishes each other a happy New Year.
Example:
May and Christopher invited their friends to their home for a New Year’s Eve party to help them ring in the New Year.
12 English Christmas Idioms and Sayings
🎄 Christmas has come early
Someone gets a welcome surprise they were not expecting.
Example:
Jonathan got a letter from his boss on the 1st December telling him that he had been promoted and was to receive a bonus. Indeed Christmas had come early for him.
🎅🏽 Bah, Humbug
Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of Charles Dickens’ novel “Christmas Carol” used this term quite often. This expression is often used in the context of someone who shows a lack of Christmas spirit and ruins other peoples’ enjoyment.
More Information
For more information on English vocabulary words, English idioms and English phrasal verbs, check out the following links:
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