jolabokaflod
Oct. 19th, 2023 07:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordjolabokaflod (yoh-luh-BOH-kuh-flawd) - n., an tradition (started in Iceland) in which books are given as Christmas presents and opened on December 24, after which the evening is spent reading the books.
At least, that's what it means in English -- the Icelandic jólabókaflóð (from jól, Christmas (cognate of Yule) + bók, book + flóð, flood) refers to the flood of books available in shops in the weeks before Christmas. This dates from 1944, when wartime restrictions on paper were much loser than other commodities, which played into the cultural tradition of high literacy. In 2015, Christopher Norris heard of this and playing off it, launched a campaign promoting the English version of this observance. To be clear, Christmas gifting books is indeed a thing in Iceland, but the Icelandic word means the flood of books available to buy.
This is one of several interesting words added to dictionary.com's main database last month.
---L.
At least, that's what it means in English -- the Icelandic jólabókaflóð (from jól, Christmas (cognate of Yule) + bók, book + flóð, flood) refers to the flood of books available in shops in the weeks before Christmas. This dates from 1944, when wartime restrictions on paper were much loser than other commodities, which played into the cultural tradition of high literacy. In 2015, Christopher Norris heard of this and playing off it, launched a campaign promoting the English version of this observance. To be clear, Christmas gifting books is indeed a thing in Iceland, but the Icelandic word means the flood of books available to buy.
This is one of several interesting words added to dictionary.com's main database last month.
---L.
