259 Words Christmas Gave Us with Grace Tierney

·31 min·3 clips

Author Grace Tierney reveals how Greeks, Vikings, and Dickens shaped the words of Christmas in her new book.

The episode features an interview with author Grace Tierney about her book 'Words Christmas Gave Us'. Grace explains that writing about Christmas during off-seasons like April or September led friends to question her sanity. Her interest began with Enid Blyton's 'The Christmas Book', which used storytelling to explain traditions like holly and mistletoe, a method Grace calls 'education by stealth'. She discusses how Christmas-specific words evoke nostalgia, sharing personal anecdotes like a friend's mother crying at 'Away in a Manger' and her family's goose-cooking fire incident. Grace reveals research exclusions, such as the word 'toys' for lacking a compelling story and unverifiable tales like the Christmas pickle. The conversation shifts to December 26th, where Grace details the UK's Boxing Day charity origins and Ireland's insistence on St. Stephen's Day as a cultural identifier. She advocates reviving old terms like 'promassing' (eating leftovers or begging), 'scurry funge' (frantic pre-guest tidying), and the Icelandic 'Jólabókaflóð' (Christmas book flood). Grace describes her family's holiday traditions, including making gingerbread with 32 unusual cookie cutters and collecting travel-themed baubles. She outlines her book-writing process, taking about two to five years as she constantly gathers words for future projects like 'Words Stories Gave Us'. The episode includes a sponsor thank-you to Patreon supporters and a post-interview segment where hosts discuss Winnie the Pooh character poll results and personal reflections on the stories.

As heard by us

Christmas words, Irish usage, and a few odd terms worth rescuing.

Bunny Trails leans into a holiday-tinged word-history conversation with Grace Tierney, whose Words Christmas Gave Us traces Christmas influence through Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Tudors, Dickens, and Santa Claus, then out into traditions, music, decorations, feasts, and more.

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Why you'd press play

A Christmas word tour that gets specific about Boxing Day and St. Stephen's Day.

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