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8 Festive Words You Must Know

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Humans are social creatures and, as such, most of us enjoy an excuse to gather with our friends and family every once in a while. Whether it's because of a nationwide holiday or some small, private celebration, spending quality time around others is a fundamental part of the human experience.

Here, we've listed a few festive terms and delve into their history and meaning. Who knows? Maybe an item on this list will give you something to talk about at your next kaffeeklatsch!

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Originally, the word lū'au referred to the leaves of the taro plant and, by extension, to a traditional Hawaiian dish prepared with them. The dish is a staple food of Hawaiian feasts and it proved so popular that, eventually, the word came to be synonymous with the feasts themselves. A lū'au is typically celebrated outdoors and it consists of local dishes served on mats and eaten without utensils. Of course, to complete the picture, the feast is usually accompanied by festive music and hula dance.

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Nowadays, the word "ale" refers to a few specific types of beer brewed by warm fermentation, as opposed to lighter varieties such as lager. However, both the word and the beverage have been around for a very long time. Up until medieval times, ale was a major source of nutrition for people from every walk of life, be it workers, monks, or nobles. Even children used to get most of their grain intake in the form of small beer, a highly nutritious but less alcoholic ale variety.

Going further back, some records attest that workers in Ancient Egypt were paid in beer, and runic amulets inscribed with the word alu, thought to refer to both the beverage and its intoxicating effects, have been found all over northern Europe.

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This loan word from German translates to something like "coffee gossip," or "coffee chatter." If you spend any time as a regular in your local cafe, there is a high chance that you've been part of one of these, even unwittingly. Politics, sports, or the latest piece of news are just some of the topics that may arise when groups of coffee enjoyers find themselves in the same place, at the same time.

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The earliest registered use of the phrasal verb "to hang out" as slang for spending time relaxing and socializing dates back only to the 1840s. As a noun, "hangout" can refer to both a place for hanging out or, quite often, to the gathering itself.

For a time, the term was so popular that Google borrowed it to name its videoconferencing platform, Google Hangouts. However, by 2022, the product was discontinued and largely replaced by Google Meet.

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The Japanese word matsuri is most often translated simply as "festival." However, culturally, it's much more than that: the term is deeply connected to the Shinto religion, and it refers to a wide array of civil and religious ceremonies that often include both times of solemn worship and upbeat celebration.

You might have heard of Washington DC's Sakura Matsuri, a festival that coincides with the blossoming of the cherry blossoms (sakura in Japanese) and celebrates Japanese culture in the United States.

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Known all over the world as the Festival of Colors, this Hindu festival celebrates the arrival of spring after winter and, symbolically, the triumph of good over evil. According to the Hindu religion, Holi commemorates the victory of Vishnu over the antagonistic Hiranyakashipu.

Holi is a time for merriment, and young and old people alike smear their faces with colored powders, sing, and dance as they let go of their troubles and embrace the coming of spring.

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If you've ever been to New Orleans, Louisiana, during February or March, you are probably familiar with the city's massive Mardi Gras Carnival celebrations. An important event with Christian roots, Mardi Gras festivities often include feasts and parades that culminate the day before Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the season of Lent. It's from these feasts that Mardi Gras got its name: In French, it literally means "Fat Tuesday."

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If, for whatever reason, you ever dreamed of participating in a massive tomato fight with strangers purely for entertainment value, you should head toward the Spanish region of Valencia during August. That's exactly what La Tomatina is.

This festival was spontaneously started in 1945 by the population of the town of Buñol, and it's been celebrated on the last Wednesday of August ever since, despite having once been banned for its lack of religious significance. In 2002, La Tomatina was declared of International Tourist Interest by the Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism.