Why did so many Americans wear green to work today?
March 17 marks the death of St. Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland. Originally, the day was aimed to commemorate Christianity's arrival in Ireland. Throughout the years, it has turned into a celebration of all aspects of Irish culture. St. Patrick's day is recognized all over the world. However, aside from the Irish, North Americans seem to have a special appreciation for it. On this day, you'll typically see waves of green pretty much anywhere. Belz outlines 3 main reasons for this. The first is that the green is synonymous with the emerald colored landscapes of Ireland. Second, according to Irish folklore, leprechauns will pinch anyone who's not wearing green. Last, St. Patrick is said to have used the Shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity. With the green, you'll also likely spot hundreds of wide-grinned party-goers with large pints of Irish beer in their hands. Glittery, over-sized leprechaun hats, and green, feather boas accessorize ginger wigs and beards, paying tribute to the red-tinted locks of the Irish. In Ireland, St. Patrick's day is a national holiday. So, all celebrators are free to flock their cities singing and dancing to traditional Irish music and munching on delicious potato cakes and Guinness pudding. In North America, however, partisans need to wait until 5 pm to bring out the whiskey flasks. Many offices in this region will be decorated with clovers, the symbol of Ireland, and pots of gold - for which leprechauns are known for. There are no gift exchanges. Rather, it's a day during which a carefree feeling flows through the air and people relish classic traditions and the joy they bring. So, the next time you find yourself visiting your American offices on St. Patrick's day, don't forget to wear your emerald tie and shoes!Vocabulary | Vocabulaire:
marks the death of correspond au jour de la mort de patron saint saint patron aimed to commemorate visait à commémorer aspects of Irish culture les aspects de la culture irlandaise waves of green des vagues de vert to be synonymous être synonyme emerald colored landscapes of Ireland les paysages émeraude d'Irlande leprechauns farfadets to pinch pincer shamrock | clover trèfle to spot apercevoir wide-grinned party-goers des fêtards souriants pints demi-litre glittery étincelant over-sized surdimensionnés ginger wigs and beards perruques et barbes rousses to pay tribute to rendre hommage à the red-tinted locks of the Irish mèche de cheveux colorée rouge des Irlandais national holiday fête nationale to flock affluer to munch grignoter partisans les partisans pots of gold pots d'or carefree insouciant to flow through the air flotter dans l'air relish savourer flask flasqueThe LV Linguistics team loves writing about anything to do with business culture and enjoys finding ways to use this to help readers improve their English skills. In addition to articles related to the corporate world, entrepreneurship, work-life balance, and more, we're working hard to create and share English vocabulary and grammar exercises that we hope can help you to excel in your language endeavors. Please let us know if there's something that you'd like us to write and post!
