During the month of October, Americans celebrate Halloween, which takes places on October 31st. This month's newlsetter is all about this scary holiday, its history, words associated with it, and a new sound to practice.
2. jack-o-lantern: pumpkin with a scary face carved out. Candles are usually put inside and lit. A jack-o-lantern was originally made to scare away evil sprits on Halloween.
3. witch: a woman (usually evil) with magic powers
Ex: The evil witch cast a spell on the man.
4. warlock: a man (usually evil) with magic powers
Ex: The warlock used his powers for evil.
5. goblin: an unkind spirit that plays tricks on people
Ex: I don't want to see a goblin on Halloween!
6. ghoul: an evil spirit that takes bodies from the grave and eats them
Ex: Watch out for ghouls and goblins on Halloween!
7. bobbing for apples: traditional Halloween game. Apples are put into a bucket of water and people try to take the apples out of the water using only their mouths.
Ex: The children had fun bobbing for apples.
8. boo: an expression used to scare someone.
Ex: John walked up behind Mary and said, "boo!" to scare her.
Halloween Idioms
Halloween idioms often involve the word "dead," as this holiday centers around spirits. Here are some common idioms using the word "dead."
1. Over my dead body: absolutely not, if I can stop you.
Ex: You'll go to that party over my dead body.
2. Dead on one's feet: exhausted
Ex: After a long day of taking care of my daughter, I was dead on my feet.
3. Drop dead: an expression used to mean go away and stop bothering me
Ex: I'm tired of your bothering me; drop dead.
4. Dead center: the exact center of something
Ex: You hit the dart dead center in the middle of the target
5. dead set against something: be totally opposed
Ex: I am dead set against buying a new car now.
"OO" I'm Scared!
The long "u" in American English sounds like "oo" and is associated with scary sounds. We often use it in a sing-songy voice when we refer to the sounds that ghosts are supposed to make.
Many people who speak English as a second language tend to say the "oo" sound as in "boot" like the "u" sound in "put." If you are having a difficult time forming this sound, try the following exercises to help you!
To form the "oo" sound, push your lips in front of your teeth in a tight circle, almost like you are going to whistle. While they are in a tight circle, use your voice to make the "oo" sound.
Halloween actually has its origins from the Catholic Church and is derived from "All Hallows Day", also called "All Saints Day" on November 1st.
One story says that the spirits of those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back on this day to find bodies to possess for the upcoming year.
Since people did not want to be possessed, on October 31st, they started dressing up in all kinds of ghoulish costumes in an attempt to scare away the spirits looking for bodies to possess.
Irish immigrants brought the custom of Halloween to America in the 1840's and the tradition has continued ever since.
The custom of "trick or treating" is believed to have come from a European custom called souling. On November 2nd, "All Souls Day", people would go around their neighborhoods begging for "soul cakes." These cakes were squares of bread with jelly. For every cake the beggars received, they would say a prayer for the neighbor's dead relatives. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they would say.
