Meanings of “Boxing Day”
The phrase “boxing day” means St. Stephen’s Day that falls on the 26th of December every year. This is stated as a public holiday and is part of the Christmas festivities. Originally, it was used to be celebrated before Christmas, but now it is celebrated after Christmas on the 26th of December.
Origin of “Boxing Day”
The phrase “boxing day” seems to have originated from the sports fixtures regularly held during the Christmas holidays in medieval England. Therefore, the boxing days used to fall before Christmas, but then it was transferred after Christmas Day. Its first use has been traced to the 25th Volume of The Sporting Magazine, published in 1805, where it goes thus: “On boxing-day, the 26th of December, a numerous assemblage of the holiday folk were amused by a hard-fought battle, in St. Pancras-fields.” This first printed usage points to the same thing as stated earlier.
Examples in Literature
Example #1
Boxing Day by Julian Stannard
The dogs are going crazy.
I think Mother slipped them
some amphetamines.A truly enormous ham
is being cookedand the dogs are becoming idiotic and psychotic.
My ex-wife is late which is good
and not so good. Mother pulsates.Welcome, ex-wife, have some ham.
I watch Mother slicing slicing slicing.
Two pieces of ham for ex-wife,
and three pieces of ham for me.
The poet feels he became a punching bag between two women. There are his ex-wife and mother and tries to satisfy them to have his meal peacefully. That is why “the dogs are becoming idiotic,” by which he means that finally, his mother comes to his help when everything goes wrong. She, however, prefers son.
Example #2
Boxing Day by Lee Emmett
Boxing Day
is a time of rest
clean up house
after Christ-festrecovering from
food overload
put up feet, not
the time to hit roadtalk about fun
of Christmas day
old folk sit around
while children play
This poem is about the origin and festivities associated with this day. The activities associated with this day include rest after eating on Christmas when the old folks gather around and narrate tales of fun and enjoyment to each other, while the children play around. However, on Boxing Day, people rest, clean up the house, and clear the clutters and presents from the previous day.
Example #3
Boxing Day by Blink-182
Sad, how far you ran, I’ll search this land
Up through the clouds then back here
We could reignite like fireflies, like an atom bomb
At all hoursI’m empty like the day after Christmas
Swept beneath the wave of your goodbye
You left me on the day after Christmas
There’s nothing left to say, and so goodnightI’m empty like the day after Christmas
Swept beneath the wave of your goodbye
You left me on the day after Christmas
There’s nothing left to say, and so goodnightThere’s nothing left to say, and so goodnight
Goodnight
These lines demonstrate the speaker’s feelings about how he can part with his beloved. The speaker says that it seems to him that they have parted after Christmas, announcing it to her beloved that she has left him after Christmas. Hence, every Boxing Day, the speaker is reminded of his break up that ruins his peace, making him feel empty.
Example #4
Boxing Day by Christopher Jaymes
Told by Christopher Jaymes, this story tells the author’s visit to Bangkok during Tsunami when it hit Thailand and left thousands of people dead. However, what has left the writer aghast, was the selfishness of the people despite such vast devastation. Although the story becomes a life lesson for the writer, it also teaches a moral lesson to the readers that they should not disassociate themselves from those with whom they have had a wonderful time. Therefore, the religious connotation of the phrase becomes clear.
Examples in Sentences
Example #1: “They were enjoying a Boxing Day after the long Christmas after having eaten to their full.”
Example #2: “They are sitting as free birds as if it is the boxing day. However, their grandfather reminded them it was a week after the New Years, and the Christmas tree had to be taken down.”
Example #3: “Hilda loves Christmas and dreaded the Boxing Day as his mother made her mop the whole dining room.”
Example #4: “Miriam didn’t know what boxing day was until she was asked to take a holiday after Christmas.”
Example #5: “A boxing day does not point anything to boxing, but it is about free time.”