THANKSGIVING DAY Vocabulary

Thanksgiving Day Día de Acción de Gracias

Black Friday Viernes Negro
autumn (GB), fall (US) otoño
colony colonia
corn maíz
cranberry arándano
feast banquete

grateful agradecido
gravy salsa de la carne asada
harvest cosecha
harvest festival festival de la cosecha
horn of plenty cuerno de la abundancia
mashed potatoes puré de papas/patatas
native American indígena norteamericano
parade desfile
pilgrim peregrino
pudding budín
pumpkin pie pastel de calabaza
settler colonizador
stuffing relleno
tradition tradición
turkey pavo

Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday of

November. On this day, American families gather around, have dinner and give
thanks for the blessing of the year.

 History of Thanksgiving
This holiday has been celebrated since 1621. At that time, it was an
occasion for the pilgrims to thank God for a plentiful harvest.
The pilgrims had to abandon England because they were against some
of the rituals of the Church of England. First, they moved to Holland
and in 1620, they sailed to the USA on the famous ship The
Mayflower. They carried lots of seeds, garden tools, gunpowder and
firearms. After a long trip (65 days) they arrived in a place that they
called Plymouth, the English town they came from.

The first Thanksgiving festival was in October 1621 and it lasted three days. The
pilgrims invited the native Americans to join the celebration.

In 1863 President Lincoln made it a national holiday.

 There is a traditional Thanksgiving Day Parade with giant balloons and marching
bands, organized by Macy's in New York, which is shown on television.

 Traditional food
The preferred food prepared and eaten at home for this celebration is
stuffed turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
As a tradition, some days before the celebration the President of the
United States pardons a turkey, the "White House Thanksgiving
Turkey". People have the opportunity to give a name to the spared turkey, which is
then taken back to a farm.

 Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving. It's the busiest shopping day in the
USA and it's the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It's called like that
because on that day all shops earn a lot of money from sales, so they go into the
black (as opposed to being in the red, meaning that they have debts).