5 idioms related to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is here! To celebrate, we are bringing you a list of 5 idioms related to this American holiday.

What is Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It originated as a harvest festival. Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, following a proclamation by George Washington after a request by Congress.

Thanksgiving is also a holiday in Canada, but there it is celebrated on the second Monday in October.

Certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Turkey, usually roasted and stuffed (but sometimes deep-fried instead), is typically the featured item on most Thanksgiving feast tables, so much so that Thanksgiving is also colloquially known as “Turkey Day.” In fact, 45 million turkeys were consumed on Thanksgiving Day alone in 2015.

Idioms related to Thanksgiving

1. To be stuffed: to have eaten large quantities of food. This is related to Thanksgiving because another meaning of the verb “to stuff” is to “fill a cavity with something” and that is exactly what is done to the turkey. The stuffing for the turkey is typically made of toasted bread and chopped vegetables.

Example: After that delicious Thanksgiving dinner, I am stuffed, I probably won’t eat for a week or so.

2. To gobble up: to eat very quickly, almost without swallowing. 2. To believe something without even questioning the reasons. This verb originated from the sound male turkeys make.

Examples: 1. I served dinner and she gobbled up everything in less than 5 minutes! 2. I told him I was very busy and he gobbled it up! Now we can stay out late if we want to 😀

3. To go cold turkey: means to stop consuming an addictive substance abruptly or to suddenly stop a habit. It is believed to have originated from the fact that suddenly stopping the consumption of certain substances can be an unpleasant process, which makes it comparable to eating cold turkey. However, another possible explanation is that, drug addicts who quit get goosebumps which resemble turkey skin.

Examples: My cousin was a big smoker until he got his lab results back, right then he decided to go cold turkey and hasn’t smoked in over a year.

4. The gravy train: used to refer to a situation in which someone can make a lot of money for very little effort. Gravy, or in other words meat sauce, is a vital part of the Thanksgiving dinner.

Example: Everyone began to invest in bitcoin as soon as it got to a really high exchange rate! Nobody wants to be left off the gravy train.

5. Count your blessings: to be relieved and thankful, often after something bad happens, thus preventing oneself from becoming too unhappy about the bad things. This is a common thing to do when having the Thanksgiving dinner!

Example: Janet was in a car crash and was really mad at the state of her car, however, I reminded her to count her blessings – she is in good health!