instance_of childlore
Christmas or Christmas ___MASK61___ ( meaning " Christ ' s Mass ") is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ , observed most commonly on ___MASK90___ 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world . A feast central to the Christian liturgical year , it is prepared for by the ___MASK1___ of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the ___MASK1___ of Christmastide , which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night ; in some traditions , Christmastide includes an Octave . The traditional Christmas narrative , the Nativity of Jesus , delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem , in accordance with messianic prophecies ; when Joseph and Mary arrived in the city , the ___MASK8___ had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born , with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then disseminated the message furthermore . Christmas ___MASK61___ is a public holiday in many of the world ' s nations , is celebrated religiously by the vast majority of Christians , as well as culturally by a number of non - Christian people , and is an integral part of the holiday ___MASK1___ , while some Christian groups reject the celebration . In several countries , celebrating Christmas Eve on ___MASK90___ 24 has the main focus rather than ___MASK90___ 25 , with gift - giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family . A ___MASK97___ is a display of ___MASK20___ in which words are used within a specific and well - defined ___MASK7___ ___MASK95___ to make people laugh . It takes the form of a story , usually with dialogue , and ends in a punch line . It is in the punch line that the audience becomes aware that the story contains a second , conflicting meaning . This can be done using a pun or other word ___MASK72___ such as irony , a logical incompatibility , nonsense or other means . Linguist Robert Hetzron offers the definition : A ___MASK62___ is a ___MASK5___ or ___MASK35___ passed down within a group or ___MASK64___ with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past . Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes ( like lawyers ' wigs or military officers ' spurs ), but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings . Traditions can persist and evolve for thousands of years  the word " ___MASK62___ " itself derives from the Latin " tradere " or " traderer " literally meaning to transmit , to hand over , to give for safekeeping . While it is commonly assumed that traditions have ancient history , many traditions have been invented on purpose , whether that be political or cultural , over short periods of time . Various academic disciplines also use the word in a variety of ways . ___MASK82___ is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people ; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture , subculture or group . These include oral traditions such as tales , proverbs and jokes . They include ___MASK99___ , ranging from traditional ___MASK29___ styles to handmade toys common to the group . ___MASK82___ also includes customary lore , the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings , folk dances and initiation rites . Each one of these , either singly or in combination , is considered a ___MASK82___ ___MASK25___ . Just as essential as the form , ___MASK82___ also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next . For ___MASK82___ is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the ___MASK17___ arts . Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration . The academic study of ___MASK82___ is called folkloristics . Folkloristics , more commonly known as ___MASK82___ studies , is the formal ___MASK98___ devoted to the study of ___MASK82___ . This term , along with its synonym " Folklore Studies ", gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the academic study of traditional culture from the ___MASK82___ artifacts themselves . The American Folklife Preservation Act ( P . L . 94 - 201 ), passed by the United States Congress in conjunction with the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 , included a definition of ___MASK82___ , also called folklife : Childlore is the ___MASK82___ or folk culture of children and young people . It includes , for example , rhymes and games played in the ___MASK2___ playground . The best known researchers of the field were Peter and Iona Opie . The subject matter of childlore includes the traditions of children between the ages of about 6 and 15 such as games , riddles , rhymes , jokes , pranks , superstitions , magical practices , wit , lyrics , guile , epithets , nicknames , torments , parody , oral legislation , seasonal customs , tortures , obscenities , codes , etc . as well as individual activities such as solitary ___MASK72___ , daydreaming , fantasies , imaginary companions and heroes , collections , scrapbooks , model worlds , comic reading , mass media interests , dramatizations , stories , art , etc . As a branch of ___MASK82___ , childlore is concerned with those activities which are learned and passed on by children to other children . The stories and games taught by adults to children are not considered childlore except insofar as the children adapt and make them their own . In western culture most folklorists are concerned with children after they join their peers in elementary ___MASK2___ or kindergarten . The traditions of childhood generally stop after the child enters intermediate ___MASK2___ , which coincides with puberty and adolescence . Opie and Opie demonstrate that the culture of children is quite distinctive and is as unnoticed by the sophisticated world , and quite as little affected by it . Opie points out that the words of one game had survived from the time of Nero . The conservatism of childlore contrasts with the way adult ___MASK82___ is rapidly modified to fit changing circumstances . ___MASK99___ is the physical ___MASK22___ of a ___MASK9___ in the objects and ___MASK41___ they make , or have made . The term tends to be relevant only in archeological and anthropological studies , but it specifically means all ___MASK59___ ___MASK22___ which can be attributed to ___MASK9___ , past or present . ___MASK99___ studies is an interdisciplinary field telling of relationships between ___MASK81___ and their things : the making , ___MASK71___ , preservation , and interpretation of objects . It draws on theory and practice from the social sciences and humanities such as art ___MASK71___ , archaeology , anthropology , ___MASK71___ , historic preservation , folklore , literary ___MASK38___ and museum studies , among others . Anything from buildings and architectural elements to books , jewelry , or toothbrushes can be considered ___MASK59___ ___MASK9___ .