English Experts

[Flavia.lm]

Pessoal,

Secret Santa: A Christmas tradition where a group of people give anonymous gifts among the group, with each person only required to give one gift (...) Wikipedia

se disserem "secret friend" pra um nativo, ele não vai entender*

Seeya...

Flávia



<*recém confirmado! Espero que tenha sido o meu último mico de 2009.>

[Alessandro]

Flávia,

Existe ainda a gíria “Kriss Kringle”. É bom lembrar que tanto Secret Santa quanto “Kriss Kringle” são usados nos EUA. Como os britânicos não tem o costume de brincar de amigo invisível não há (ainda) uma expressão equivalente na terra da rainha.

See you

[pondedaniel]

e não podemos nos esquecer de white elephant (aquele amigo oculto no qual todos colocam o presente dentro de um saco e não há "amigos ocultos definidos")

[Thomas]

Secret friend is widely used in the USA
Sometimes the gift giving goes on all year and includes a birthday present, cards, etc. My sister and her friends have done this for years.

Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: white elephant Pronunciation Guide
Function: noun
2 a : a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit b : an object (as a gadget or trinket) that is no longer esteemed by its owner though not without value to others <conducted a white elephant sale to help the church> (Note that a "white elephant" is an object, not a person.)

Kris Kringle is another another name for Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, etc. We do not use Father Christmas in the USA as do the British. It could be used for "secret friend" by some groups, but it is not commonly used.

[combasso]

Olá pessoal!

Amigo secreto também é "MONITO".
Este jogo de amigo secreto é muito conhecido em mais de 70 países e ainda possui uma música em inglês para a entrega dos presentes e revelaçao do amigo secreto.


I love my monito, yes I do
I love my monito, yes I do
I love my monito, yes I do
I love my monito, but I won't tell you

I've got a feeling warm and gay,
When she casts her eyes my way
I will reveal her name some day,
But who she is, I will not say ay ay ay

I love my monito...

http://toptvz.com.br/cisv-songs/monito-song

[pondedaniel]

Secret friend is widely used in the USA
Sometimes the gift giving goes on all year and includes a birthday present, cards, etc. My sister and her friends have done this for years.

Merriam-Webster
Main Entry: white elephant Pronunciation Guide
Function: noun
2 a : a property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit b : an object (as a gadget or trinket) that is no longer esteemed by its owner though not without value to others <conducted a white elephant sale to help the church> (Note that a "white elephant" is an object, not a person.)

Kris Kringle is another another name for Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, etc. We do not use Father Christmas in the USA as do the British. It could be used for "secret friend" by some groups, but it is not commonly used.

@Thomas

As for you statement, I must point out that in Brazil we call both the person and the game amigo oculto/ amigo secreto.

I should've said that in English however that does not happen and also that the expression white elephant would be the short form of white elephant gift exchange.

See:

A white elephant gift exchange is a popular holiday party game found primarily in North America. It has many variations in both the name and the game play. Generally, white elephant parties need a minimum of six participants. With a larger group, game play may be more protracted. White elephant parties have been known to result in intensely vicious and/or playful rivalries between players trying to get sought after gifts. The goal of a white elephant party is usually to entertain rather than to gain. This game is sometimes called a Yankee Swap, Chinese Gift Exchange, Dirty Santa, Thieving Secret Santa, Parcel Pass, Pollyanna, or Christmas Swamp Thing.



A man selects a taken gift, while its previous owner isn't glad to relinquish it

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elep ... t_exchange

[Thomas]

Forgive me for correcting you, but "secret pal" or "secret friend" in the USA refers to a participant as well as the tradition.

"White elephant" does not just refer to the exchange of gifts. It could be used to describe a hotel that cannot be sold because it is so expensive to operate that it cannot generate enough income to pay its expenses. It could describe a an ugly piece of jewelry that nobody wants to wear but nobody wants to discard for one reason or another. Merriam-Webster makes reference to this.

My sister has had a "secret friend" for years among the ladies from her church. A new name is chosen each year, and the ladies do their best to keep things a secret. Being a "secret friend" for these women involves birthday cards, Valentine Day cards, Christmas and birthday gifts, etc. For them, it goes far beyond a white elephant gift exchange at Christmas.

For many years I participated in the "white elephant" tradition of the Laich family. The goal was to find a gift that was completely useless and undesirable. Once I received dirty socks, and another year I got a "meadow muffin" ("bosta") that had been spray painted gold and fastened to a board to be used as a paper weight on my desk. We would take a wrapped, unmarked gift to the Christmas party/dinner. That night the gifts and guests would be numbered. (The process involved a deck of cards. I do not recall the details.) One by one, the guests would open the gift corresponding to his or her number. Only then would the identity of the giver be made known.

Close, but no cigar.

[pondedaniel]

@Thomas:

By saying that "white elephant would be the short form of white elephant gift exchange" I meant particularly in this case. Sorrry if I didn't make myself clearer.
I