THANKSGIVING DAY IN THE UNITED STATES

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Day is celebrated with lot of fervor and merry-making in America. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday in the month of November every year, it is a time for communal thanksgiving, feeling gratitude, lavish feasts. It is a time to remember the pilgrims. The original pilgrims celebrated the autumn harvest with a feast of thanks. The feast popularly known as the 'First Thanksgiving Day Feast' was held as a gesture of thanks to almighty God . It was celebrated in the year 1621. After the United States gained independence, Congress recommended one yearly day of thanksgiving for the whole nation to celebrate.

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Tribute to Native Indians

Until recently, people believed Thanksgiving Day to be a celebration of pilgrims, offering food to Indians. It however is a day marked as a gesture of thanks and gratitude to Lord Almighty for his blessings. It is also a celebration to mark the respect towards Indians for teaching the pilgrims how to cook. Pilgrims could not have survived without the help of the native Indians.

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Time for celebrating Traditional Harvest

Thanksgiving Day is a time of festivity, family meals and reunions in America. Carved turkeys, Pumpkin Pie, Corns, Cranberry Sauce are the traditional dishes adorning the dinner tables in almost every house. A time for feasting, Thanksgiving Day epitomizes the holiday mood of people.

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Tradition of Gifting

Thanksgiving is a time for gifting your family and friends. The day is a time to show your gratitude and respect to your elders, friends, your siblings and also your colleagues. Popular gifts include thanksgiving flowers, jewellery, baked cookie hampers, chocolate gift baskets, candy-wreaths, wine etc.

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Black Friday and Festive Spirit

Thanksgiving Day is the official beginning of the Christmas season. USA witnesses maximum sales volume on the very next day. The following Friday after thanksgiving is famously known as 'Black Friday'. This is so, because of the standard accounting practice of writing profits in black. The ongoing festive spirit, shopping spree, helps the shopkeepers to register maximum sales and profits. The entire atmosphere during the time is euphoric; people get in a holiday mood. Families visit restaurants, amusement parks, gift each other, decorate their house etc.

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Vocabulary:

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Lavish: adjective more than enough, especially if expensive; very generous
Feasts: noun [C] a day on which a religious event or person is remembered and celebrated
Pilgrims: noun [C] a person who makes a journey, which is often long and difficult, to a special place for religious reasons – (Nota: neste caso não foi o motive religioso que levou os Ingleses a emigrarem para o Novo Continente mas sim os altos impostos exigidos pela Coroa).
Autumn: Same as Fall (Outono)
Harvest: noun [C or U] the time of year when crops are cut and collected from the fields, or the activity of cutting and collecting them, or the crops which are cut and collected
Lord Almighty: Forma de referir-se a Deus Todo Poderoso
Blessings: verb [T] blessed or LITERARY blest, blessed or LITERARY blest to ask for God's help and protection for someone or something, or to call or make someone or something holy
Feasting: phrasal verb LITERARY to eat a lot of good food and enjoy it very much
Siblings: noun [C] FORMAL a brother or sister
Hampers: noun [C] a large rectangular container with a lid
Witnesses: noun [C] a person who sees an event happening, especially a crime or an accident
Shopping spree: shopping much more than normal
Shopkeepers: noun [C] (US USUALLY storekeeper) a person who owns and manages a small shop
Profits: to earn money from something