Thursday Things: Happy Boxing Day Edition
26 December 2024. Vol 6 No 52. By Dan McGirt. #281
Thursday Things is here! This week we pack up for Boxing Day, compensate with coffee, and color coordinate in the new year.
If you enjoy this edition, please click the heart icon in the header or at the end of the post to let me know.
Alas, lass, it’s not that kind of boxing. Photo by Thao LEE on Unsplash
Boxing Day
It’s time once again to be disappointed that Boxing Day has nothing to do with joyfully exchanging punches with people as a means of burning off all those holiday calories you consumed.
Boxing Day, observed on December 26, is a public holiday in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, and has naught to do with pugilistic pursuits. Rather, it is a day for charity.
Or at least it used to be.
The origins of Boxing Day are disputed. Some connect it to churches putting out collection boxes for the poor which were opened, and the alms distributed, the day after Christmas. Others say the name derives from the custom of the wealthy giving Christmas boxes of small gifts (and leftovers!) to servants the day after Christmas, along with a day off.
It is quite civilized that Boxing Day is an official holiday in the UK, so Brits don’t have to burn a day of leave to have the day after Christmas off. It is has also apparently become a day best known for post-Christmas sales and watching football matches.
Learn more about Boxing day:
And CBS answers an important question:
Why don't Americans recognize Boxing Day?
The U.S. is one of the few English-speaking countries that does not recognize Boxing Day. Americans don't celebrate mainly because the country is not part of the British Commonwealth and the holiday did not become officially recognized until 1871, almost a century after the U.S. gained independence.
I guess we missed out on that one. But we do get the 4th of July off, which has much better holiday weather than December 26 most years.
In fact, here in the US we sometimes call December 26 Surprise the Hessians Day.
We don’t actually, but we should.
George Washington crossing the Delaware to wish the Hessians a Happy Boxing Day. Image: Emanuel Leutze, via Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Coffee to the rescue
If, like me, you went every so slightly off your normal eating and exercise habits during the holidays, I offer this small consolation: Christmas Weight Gain Could Be Offset With Coffee.
Researchers fed rats a high-carb, high-sugar diet, along with copious amounts of caffeine and “determined that caffeine reduced fat absorption by 22 percent and reduce weight gain by 16 percent.”
They estimated that drinking four cups of coffee (or mate tea) a day could help prevent weight gain. Remember: Coffee is your friend!
In fact, coffee is your very good friend, along with tea.
Coffee and Tea Linked to Lower Cancer Risk in Groundbreaking Study
Drinking coffee and tea might not just perk you up but also lower the risk of head and neck cancers, according to global research pooling data from over 25,000 individuals.
A recent analysis of data from over a dozen studies found that drinking coffee and tea is associated with a reduced risk of developing head and neck cancers, including cancers of the mouth and throat. These findings were published today (December 23) in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
As always, the results vary with how much coffee or tea is consumed, and more research is needed:
“While there has been prior research on coffee and tea consumption and reduced risk of cancer, this study highlighted their varying effects with different sub-sites of head and neck cancer, including the observation that even decaffeinated coffee had some positive impact,” said senior author Yuan-Chin Amy Lee, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine. “Coffee and tea habits are fairly complex, and these findings support the need for more data and further studies around the impact that coffee and tea can have on reducing cancer risk.”
That’s right: even decaf can have some positive impact. Who knew?
New Year Traditions
New Year’s Eve is coming soon, so let’s take a moment to consider the the important topic of your underwear.
Down in Brazil there is a quite elaborate New Year’s custom of wearing white on New Year’s Eve, along with colored underwear. This seems to be a questionable fashion choice, but there is a method to the madness. You see, the color of underwear you choose determines your fortunes in the new year. Here is a list of your options:
Key to Underwear Colors and their Meaning in Brazil:
Branco (white) = paz e harmonia (peace and harmony)
Aazul (blue) = tranquilidade e amizade (tranquility and friendship)
Amarelo (yellow) = dinheiro e sorte (money and luck)
Rosa (pink) = amor (love)
Vermelho (red) = paixão (passion)
Laranja (orange) = sucesso profissional (professional success)
Verde (green) = saúde (health)
Roxo (purple) = inspiração (inspiration)
I presume my Batman boxers = justice
Choose wisely!
Thank you for reading!
This is the final Thursday Things of 2024.
Thank you to all the scores and scores of Happy Subscribers who have come along for the last 281 issues! We will reach the milestone 300th edition of Thursday Things early next year, so stick around for that. I’ll try to come up with something special.
I hope you all had a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, fervent Festivus, and a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year ahead!
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again next Thursday in 2025!
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