Word: englands
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...traveling to different homes comes from a different tradition altogether, albeit a similarly ancient one. In England, the word wassail - derived from the Old Norse ves heill meaning "be well, and in good health" - came to mean the wishing of good fortune on your neighbors. No one is quite sure when the custom began, but it did give us the song, "Here We Come-A-Wassailing" - sung as carolers wished good cheer to their neighbors in hopes of getting a gift in return. ("A Wassailing" also evolved into the popular "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - its last verse, "Bring...
...traditions of singing and visiting first merged in Victorian England, as church carols began to merge with Christian folk music. At that time, it was far from a Christmas tradition; festivals like May Day were deemed worthy of caroling, too, but the repertoire as well as early records of this are pretty unclear. In the 19th Century, as Christmas became more commercialized and popular, publishers began churning out anthologies of carols, many which were ancient hymns, also circulating them in broadsheets...
...same nations complaining of obstruction, however, are themselves (surprise, surprise) guilty of adding hot air to the debate. Great Britain’s climate secretary Ed Miliband made headlines in England for his acknowledgment of the obvious: “People will be rightly furious if agreement [at the conference] is not possible.” His countryman Tony Blair has chimed in as well, demanding a hasty resolution. Yet the EU has pledged less than $10 billion to short-term climate aid for developing nations. To put that in perspective, Japan has individually promised $15 billion. Miliband might...
...earlier version of the Dec. 16 news article "Cyber Safety Expert Visits" incorrectly attributed quotes to Danah Boyd—a researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a fellow at the Berkman Center—instead of another speaker at the event. Boyd did not say that Boston has been working on a cyber-safety project with funding from Microsoft. The article has been changed to reflect this inaccuracy...
...About 20 million Muslims live in the European Union, mostly in capital cities and large industrial towns; they already make up 25% of the population in Marseilles, France, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands; 20% in Malmö, Sweden; 15% in Brussels and Birmingham, England; and 10% in London, Paris and Copenhagen. The report, published on Dec. 15, surveyed Muslims in 11 cities across the E.U. and found that 55% of respondents believed religious discrimination had risen in the past five years. And while many Muslims are a long-standing and integral part of the fabric of their cities, the report...