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Christmas True or False?

Try to guess whether these statements about Christmas are true or false.
Quiz by overtired
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Last updated: February 4, 2022
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First submittedDecember 22, 2021
Times taken396
Average score53.3%
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1. Christmas trees as a custom originated in America
True
False
They originated in medieval Livonia (present-day Estonia and Latvia) and early modern Germany
2. One of Santa's reindeer shares a name with a Roman god
True
False
Cupid. Fun fact: Rudolph was nearly called Reginald!
3. In the song The Twelve Days of Christmas the singer receives forty gold rings
True
False
The singer receives five rings on eight separate days, for a total of forty
4. Jesus was gifted gold, frankenstein and myrrh at his birth
True
False
Frankenstein was not present at Jesus's birth, though both are said to have raised people from the dead
5. Russia sends the UK a Christmas tree every year to put in Trafalgar Square
True
False
Norway sends the tree. The "flea-bitten" and "anaemic" 2021 tree has been widely mocked.
6. Jingle Bells was originally written for Thanksgiving
True
False
It was also the first song broadcast from space, after Gemini 6 reported seeing a “red-suited” astronaut in “polar orbit”.
7. No gifts are given to Santa at Christmas
True
False
Lots are given!
USA: milk and cookies, UK: mince pies and sherry, Ireland: Guinness, France: biscuits, Sweden: coffee,
Denmark: rice pudding and cinnamon, Chile: fruit, nut and rum sponge cake, Australia: a cold beer!
8. In Japan it is a Christmas tradition to eat Kentucky Fried Chicken
True
False
Following a successful marketing campaign in 1974 - Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii, or Kentucky for Christmas - it has become family tradition for millions to gather round a bucket of the Colonel's finest.
9. Celebrating Christmas used to be illegal in Boston
True
False
Yes, from 1659 until 1681. The Puritan majority considered Christmas a pagan ritual, citing no Biblical evidence for Jesus being born on December 25th and that Pope Julius I decided the date, which coincided with the existing Roman holiday of Saturnalia, in the 4th century.
10. Mistletoe emits a pheromone that makes humans more likely to kiss
True
False
It does not, and it has no discernible smell
11. Nativity scenes to promote Christianity are banned in French public spaces
True
False
They are only allowed if the organizers can prove they have a “cultural, artistic, or festive purpose”
12. Black Friday is the busiest pre-Christmas shopping day in the United States
True
False
It's the Friday and Saturday before Christmas
13. The "mincemeat" in mince pies used to be made with actual meat
True
False
Yes, mixed with the fruit and nuts was usually mutton, but also beef, rabbit, pork or game.
14. In the Netherlands, Santa has a controversial companion named "Black Pete"
True
False
Zwarte Piet is traditionally portrayed by Dutch people in blackface and Renaissance attire
15. Legend tells that St Nicholas resurrected three children from the dead
True
False
The story goes that the three children had been murdered and pickled by a butcher to sell as pork during a famine. Ho ho ho.
+3
Level 88
Feb 3, 2022
Fun idea! Some good tricky questions here. I have a couple quibbles though.

My main objection is that Cupid is technically a Roman god; his Greek counterpart is Eros, so I marked that one false. Maybe change the clue to Roman instead of Greek?

Also, I think there is debate about whether the gifts from The 12 Days of Christmas are cumulative or not. Personally I'm of the opinion that the each set of gifts are only given once, on the initial day they are mentioned. Perhaps I'm in the minority on that one, though.

+2
Level 84
Feb 4, 2022
Thanks, my mistake on Cupid.

The song lyrics are clear about what is given on each day IMO.

+1
Level 68
Dec 26, 2023
Now that relations between Russia and the whole Western world have been frozen, the question about the tree sent to the UK may be a tad easy