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Why do we pucker up under the mistletoe each Christmas? There's a number of stories.
One dates back to Norse mythology. In that tale, the god Baldur was certain that Earth's plants and animals wanted to kill him, so his mother and wife negotiated with every living thing to leave Baldur alone. But mistletoe was the one plant his wife and mother overlooked, and, ultimately, Baldur was killed with an arrow made from the plant.
"We kiss beneath it to remember what Baldur's wife and mother forgot," biologist Rob Dunn wrote in Smithsonian Magazine.
Druids, or ancient Celtic people, believed mistletoe had magical powers and used it during rituals. Because of its use in pagan ceremonies, mistletoe was banned in Christian places of worship, according to Leonard Perry, a forestry professor at the University of Vermont. It's unclear when mistletoe became associated with Christmas, he wrote.
The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe dates back to 16th century England, and is possibly related to the belief of the plant's "effects on fertility and conception," according Frank Turner, a professor in the Forest Resources department at Clemson University.
"Today, greenery is still much used, but the use of mistletoe is seldom practiced even though almost everyone has heard of the custom of kissing under the mistletoe," he wrote in an article for The American Phytopathological Society. "Such a custom seems sweetly quaint and naive and perhaps is not sophisticated enough to survive our modern moral standards."

Druid
noun
  1. priestmagician, or soothsayer in the ancient Celtic religion.
    • a member of a present-day group claiming to represent or be derived from this religion.

mistle|toe
Pronunciation: /ˈmɪs(ə)ltəʊ    /
Definition of mistletoe in English:
NOUN
A leathery-leaved parasitic plant which grows on apple, oak, and other broadleaf trees and bears white glutinous berries in winter.
Several species in the family Viscaceae, in particular the Eurasian Viscum album and the North American Phoradendron flavescens
EXAMPLE SENTENCES
Origin
Old English misteltān, from mistel 'mistletoe' (of Germanic origin, related to Dutch mistel and German Mistel) + tān 'twig'.


detritus
noun
  1. waste or debris of any kind.
    "the streets were foul with detritus"
    Similar:
    debris
    waste
    waste matter
    discarded matter
    refuse
    litter
    scrap
    flotsam and jetsam
    lumber
    rubble
    wreckage
    remains
    remnants
    fragments
    scraps
    spoilage
    dregs
    leavings
    sweepings
    dross
    scum
    chaff
    offscourings
    swill
    slag
    rubbish
    trash
    garbage
    mullock
    dreck
    junk
    grot
    gash
    debitage
    draff
    raffle
    raff
    cultch
    orts
    View 2 vulgar slang words

puck¦er
Pronunciation: /ˈpʌkə /

Definition of pucker in English:

VERB

(Especially with reference to a person’s face) tightly gather or contract into wrinkles or small folds:[NO OBJECT]: the child’s face puckered, ready to cry[WITH OBJECT]: the baby stirredpuckering up its faceshe puckered her lips

NOUN

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tightly gathered wrinkle or small fold:a pucker between his eyebrows

Origin

late 16th century (as a verb): probably frequentative, from the base of poke2 and pocket (suggesting the formation of small purse-like gatherings).

Derivatives


puckery

1
ADJECTIVE

Definition