How to Talk About Halloween in English
On October 31st many people celebrate Halloween. This post will teach you how to talk about this tradition and discuss the differences between Halloween in the UK and the US.
- The origins of Halloween lie in religious remembrance of the dead, though it is now commonly observed as a celebration of all things scary and spooky.
- To 'dress up' (phrasal verb) means to wear costumes, accessories, masks and/or face paints, to look like different characters. In the UK, we call this 'fancy dress'. We buy our outfits (costumes) from fancy dress shops or online.
- Zombies, witches, monsters, ghosts and skeletons are popular characters to dress up as at Halloween in the UK. In the US, people dress up as all different characters (not necessarily scary ones).
- 'Trick or treating' is an activity where children knock on the doors of their neighbours' houses and shout, "Trick or treat!" (Neighbours is spelt 'neighbors' in American English). The neighbours may give the children chocolate and sweets (called 'candies' in American English).
- People celebrate at Halloween parties. Houses can be decorated with Halloween accessories, Halloween themed food and drinks are served and guests attend wearing their fancy dress costumes.
- Pumpkins will be carved into 'jack-o-lanterns' at Halloween. A candle is placed inside and these help to create an atmosphere and provide decoration.
- In the UK, I would say that Halloween is celebrated more by children than by adults. In the US, Halloween is generally a bigger phenomenon than it is in the UK. While costumes in the UK are usually themed around scary things, it is common in the US for people to dress up in all kinds of costumes.
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