Celebrating Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is probably the second biggest holiday in the United States after Christmas. It is time to give thanks, especially for the abundance of food after the harvest and is marked by a great feast. The turkey – thought to be first domesticated by Mesoamericans long before being introduced into Europe by the Spanish, and much later proposed as the symbol of the United States by Benjamin Franklin, instead of the bald eagle – has become the traditional main course of this event. It is often filled with stuffing and served with mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, various vegetable dishes, and pumpkin pie for dessert.
Thanksgiving traditionally dates back to 1621, in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts. This was the landing place of Mayflower, a ship full of Pilgrims, seeking freedom from religious persecution back in England. They managed to survive a very difficult first year only with the help of the natives, and so they gave thanks and celebrated together after the first harvest with a three-day feast.
Thanksgiving weekend sees also some of the heaviest traffic of the year as millions of Americans return home to be with their families. Houses are decorated with earthy fall tones and cornucopias or horns of plenty.
especially – specialmente, perticolarmente
abundance of – abbondanza di
harvest – raccolto (agricoltura)
to be marked by – (contra)segnato
feast – festa
to be domesticated – essere domesticato
to be introduced into – essere introdotto
to be proposed as – essere proposto
instead of – invece di
bald eagle – acquila calva
to be filled with – essere ripieno di
stuffing – farcitura, ripieno
to be served with – essere servito con
mashed potatoes – puré di patate
gravy – sughetto
cranberry sauce – sugo di mirtillo rosso
to date back – risalire a
freedom – libertá
religious persecution – persecuzione religiosa
to manage to – riuscire a fare qualcosa
to survive – soprravivere
natives – indigeno
to celebrate – celebrare
heavy traffic – traffico pesante
earthy fall tone – tono di terra d’autunno
cornucopia – cornucopia
horn of plenty – corno dell’abbondanza
