View Full Version : Do they have Halloween in France?
Like do kids go trick-or-treating and stuff?
ps. Happy Halloween :)
nurvonic
10-31-2006, 12:31 PM
i always thought it was just an american thing...but we'll just have to see what aFrenchie and whoever else is from france says :p
They started celebratting Halloween here in 1997.
Trick-or-treat! :D
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 01:24 PM
I don't even know what or who tried to launch that in France around 1997 (indeed) and why, but it quite failed. We still can see disguised young children asking for candies at every house around 7-8 pm but that's all about it...
What does "trick-or-treating" mean?
Off topic, I see that you (US) haven't changed the hour yet. I don't know how you call that, I mean here in France it's now "winter hour" again (as opposed to the "summer hour") since last Sunday night (last weekend of Oct.). For example, it's now 7:00 when last Saturday it was 8:00. That was made for energy economy...
When do you change it?
Matrix
10-31-2006, 01:35 PM
Hmmm, Halloween originated in Europe I thought, would think everyone in Europe would be celebrating Halloween, interesting.
Off topic, I see that you (US) haven't changed the hour yet. I don't know how you call that, I mean here in France it's now "winter hour" again (as opposed to the "summer hour") since last Sunday night (last weekend of Oct.). For example, it's now 7:00 when last Saturday it was 8:00. That was made for energy economy...
When do you change it?
It's called "winter time" in English. Or "standard time".
"Summer time" is same as "daylight saving time".
And yeah, Europe and most of the world switched to standard time last weekend. USA switched same time, too.
nurvonic
10-31-2006, 01:36 PM
it originated in the british isles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick_or_treat
and the times have changed here in the states, i guess brad hasnt been able to update it yet
It's called "winter time" in English. Or "standard time".
"Summer time" is same as "daylight saving time".
And yeah, Europe and most of the world switched to standard time last weekend. USA switched same time, too.
yeah we switched last weekend also.
it is called 'standard time' and 'daylight savings time' here.
What does "trick-or-treating" mean?
trick-or-treating is what the kids do on halloween. basically, a kid rings your doorbell, and says 'trick-or-treat' .. and then you have to give them candy (that is the treat part). if you don't give them candy, then they might play a trick on you .. like throw eggs at your house or something, lol.
nurvonic
10-31-2006, 01:51 PM
i wouldnt so much call them 'tricks' as i would 'vandilization'... lol..at least in my town
i wouldnt so much call them 'tricks' as i would 'vandilization'... lol..at least in my town
yeah same here ... lol.
vandilization-or-treat doesn't have the same ring to it though :D
Simon
10-31-2006, 02:02 PM
I'm from Belgium (small neighbour-country of France, in America, our capital, Brussels, is more commonly known, or so they say). Here they also try to have Halloween (obviously for commercial reasons) but it doesn't seem to gain any foothold either. Guess we're still pretty old-fashioned here.
greetings
I'm from Belgium (small neighbour-country of France, in America, our capital, Brussels, is more commonly known, or so they say). Here they also try to have Halloween (obviously for commercial reasons) but it doesn't seem to gain any foothold either. Guess we're still pretty old-fashioned here.
greetings
Welcome to the website Simon! Glad you found us :)
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 03:02 PM
and the times have changed here in the states, i guess brad hasnt been able to update it yet
That's what got me. I thought it wasn't changed in the US yet...
basically, a kid rings your doorbell, and says 'trick-or-treat'
That's part of what subsisted here, without the treating part. Children ask politely (even shyly) and they won't do anything to your house if you don't give them candies :). And in my previous post, I wrote at 7-8 am by mistake, it's at around 7-8 pm of course.
I'm from Belgium (small neighbour-country of France)
French speaking area? Welcome to the forum.
O Rly
10-31-2006, 03:06 PM
Well, we rarely go trick-or-treating in my country, we don't even celebrate that holiday. It's just an excuse to scare people with masks and stuff :), it's a fun day even if it's not celebrated.
Oh, and welcome to the forums, Simon!
Señor Villa
10-31-2006, 03:21 PM
We do not change the time in Arizona. I think it is an archaic system that needs to be abolished. For Halloween here a lot of kid's go to the malls because it is safer than going door to door. The store merchants give out candy. Last year only one kid rang my bell, so this year I will not pass out chocolate.
and the times have changed here in the states, i guess brad hasnt been able to update it yet
whoops .. just fixed it.
mibir
10-31-2006, 03:53 PM
I talked to our exchange student from Denmark. She said that not many kids go trick-or-treating and the ones that do are very young. This seems to be a consistent theme throughout Europe.
DJ_Greg
10-31-2006, 04:19 PM
That's part of what subsisted here, without the treating part. Children ask politely (even shyly) and they won't do anything to your house if you don't give them candies :). And in my previous post, I wrote at 7-8 am by mistake, it's at around 7-8 pm of course.
It's pretty much the same here. If you don't have candy, you don't answer your door. Usually, houses that aren't participating will leave their exterior lights off, as an indication that no one is home or no one is answering the door with free candy.
The vandalism is mostly contained to the night before Halloween. It has different names in different regions...Mischief Night is common, I think. In my town, we called it Goosey Night. But few kids actually do anything beyond maybe toilet-papering someone's car. Some kids will throw eggs or use candle wax, but that was rare where I grew up.
Simon
10-31-2006, 04:23 PM
French speaking area? Welcome to the forum.[/QUOTE]
Nope, dutch speaking area (Bruges, near the Belgian coast), although, like most Belgians I speak and understand french quite well (writing is getting another matter, my french grammar is getting a bit rusty)
It looks like this is quite an international forum here
Spartan500
10-31-2006, 05:03 PM
here in so cal at least they go crazy with vandilism almost any day of the week but mostly on halloween night.like last year my friends egged anything and anyone they even used paintball guns . i of course was busy taking my little cousin trick or treating but i did join them for a party afterwards isn't halloween great
NANAKI
10-31-2006, 05:23 PM
I just read an article and was told bye my French teacher that Holloween is starting to be celbrated more in more in France. She got this from students from France not to mention that she used to live in France.
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 05:44 PM
I just read an article and was told bye my French teacher that Holloween is starting to be celbrated more in more in France. She got this from students from France not to mention that she used to live in France.
I don't know where (s)he got that from but believe me, it's the exact opposite.
Read my post in page 1 (http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?p=14557#post14557), or the "Phénomène de mode en France ?" section of this page:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
Quick translation:
"But the fact that certain French reject it does not imply a generalized "French rejection". It seems however that the Halloween phenomenon was momentary indeed. The Halloween "ambiance" worked quickly and culminated in the year 2000, to fall down as quickly as it had appeared. Today the media almost don't refer to it anymore."
Señor Villa
10-31-2006, 07:00 PM
Too bad, because a halloween party in the catacombs in Paris would be cool.
garçoncanadien
10-31-2006, 07:06 PM
by the way aFrenchie the only place in North America we use the 24 hour clock is probably in the US military or highly scientific applications. 24 hour times is not a common thing in Canada. From what I gather from movies, they say, for example, "sixteen hundred hours" for seize heures or 4pm. In common speech it is not so often.
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 07:27 PM
by the way aFrenchie the only place in North America we use the 24 hour clock is probably in the US military or highly scientific applications. 24 hour times is not a common thing in Canada.
That's sooo much easier and logical! Like meter and gramme systems, or Celsius degrees. :D
From what I gather from movies, they say, for example, "sixteen hundred hours" for seize heures or 4pm. In common speech it is not so often.
"sixteen hundred hours"?? :D It's only sixteen for us...
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 07:29 PM
Too bad, because a halloween party in the catacombs in Paris would be cool.
Hell yes! No need to disguise or use masks there :D
aditya8617
10-31-2006, 07:31 PM
Funny, but my town doesn't seem to be having any hallowen atmosphere. I can see an odd person in costume but other than that I see no indication that it is Hallowen today.
So, is Alizee celebrating Hallowen?
aFrenchie
10-31-2006, 07:45 PM
So, is Alizee celebrating Hallowen?
Read my posts above (http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?p=14602&posted=1#post14602), and here (http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?p=14557#post14557).
And even when it worked a bit (97-2000), only very young children were concerned.
garçoncanadien
10-31-2006, 07:47 PM
aFrenchie, we North Americans just say am and pm. And the American military says sixteen hundred because 16h00 looks like 16 times 100 :) I know it was weird to me when I first heard it too.
rwd716
10-31-2006, 08:37 PM
That's sooo much easier and logical! Like meter and gramme systems, or Celsius degrees. :D Ehh, all what your used to. I see meter and gram as easier, but Celsius not so much. It really doesn't matter to me though, cause I have to use all forms for my job.
"sixteen hundred hours"?? :D It's only sixteen for us...Lol, 1600=sixteen hundred. I guess officially the military uses a 24hr clock. But mostly we just say 4 o'clock instead of 16 hundred. Maybe that's just an Air Force thing though. The Marines may be a little more "Gun Ho" about it :rolleyes:
Cooney
10-31-2006, 08:54 PM
I've ended up using the 24 hour clock myself because of where I work (at an airport, for the federal government). My watch is set that way, and I speak that way in the latter half of the day.
The time comes out as "sixteen hundred" because, properly written in American military style, it is written 1600, with no colon, no letter h, and nothing else breaking it up. I'm not a purist, and still write it 16:00 myself, but properly I shouldn't. Times before 1000 have are spoken with the sound "Oh" before them (for the 0), so 0400 becomes "Oh four hundred." I get off of work at 0430, spoken "Oh four thirty."
Wow, what a change of subjects.
Around where I am, trick-or-treating is big. Generally, the kids who are doing it are younger (mostly 13 and under), and are just interested in the candy. The vandalism and pranks are done by older people (teens and twenties) who are stupid, and want to cause problems. Mostly the "tricks" involve smashing pumpkins, TP'ing houses or cars, and egging things. Sometimes though, they become dangerous or mean-spirited, with people using paintball guns, or stealing bags of candy from younger kids (called "bag-snatching"). That is kept to a minimum though, and both will get a person beaten up if they're caught by good-hearted people.
Older kids and young adults tend to go to parties instead, where we still dress up in costumes and eat lots of candy, but where we stay in one place to dance, drink, flirt, and listen to music.
Did anybody's girlfriend dress up like Alizee this Halloween (outside of USA of course)? :D
aFrenchie
11-01-2006, 07:29 AM
but Celsius not so much.
I just like the way it's been done: 0°C is when water freezes, 100°C is when water boils, then the scale is made around this :).
Unfortunately waters spoiling and freezing point changes, too.
But in Earth's athmosphere, it's still better than F scale. Kelvin scale is of course the best since it has one absolute point that never changes.
bt_bird_90
11-01-2006, 08:53 PM
I hate daylight savings time right about now, it get's dark around 5:00 pm. My schedule's f'd as it is so I only get a few hours to see the sun a day. I'm all for fall being cool, but this time of year in particular always gets me down.
Senshi87
11-01-2006, 09:24 PM
im from sweden, but i can say halloween cellebrating like in states has become more common now over the past few years in europe, as originially we celebrate all hallows eve i think you would call it where u go visit the dead and so on.
but now a days u see kinds go trick or treating :)
Twitch
11-02-2006, 06:27 AM
Actually for the record all the French TV stations in Canada that I watch use the 24 hour clock. And when speaking French I try to as well, but it is still not as familiar to me as the AM/PM system.
And on a side note, I have always been curious why is the US never switched to the metric system, when most other countries did. Canada switched in the 70's but we still have some imperial units carried over unofficially because of American influence.(I like the jokes made by Americans who don't realise the temperature is measured in Celcius and think it is a lot colder here than it really is:)) The French in Québec usually use only metric units though (except in cooking because of American published cook books), at least on TV.
bt_bird_90
11-02-2006, 07:23 AM
Actually for the record all the French TV stations in Canada that I watch use the 24 hour clock. And when speaking French I try to as well, but it is still not as familiar to me as the AM/PM system.
And on a side note, I have always been curious why is the US never switched to the metric system, when most other countries did. Canada switched in the 70's but we still have some imperial units carried over unofficially because of American influence.(I like the jokes made by Americans who don't realise the temperature is measured in Celcius and think it is a lot colder here than it really is:)) The French in Québec usually use only metric units though (except in cooking because of American published cook books), at least on TV.
To put it simply...
It’s not a problem
We lazy ‘round
Bubbly and stubborn
We lazy ‘round
Sir Wood
11-03-2006, 12:11 AM
I don't know where (s)he got that from but believe me, it's the exact opposite.
Read my post in page 1 (http://moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?p=14557#post14557), or the "Phénomène de mode en France ?" section of this page:
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween
Quick translation:
"But the fact that certain French reject it does not imply a generalized "French rejection". It seems however that the Halloween phenomenon was momentary indeed. The Halloween "ambiance" worked quickly and culminated in the year 2000, to fall down as quickly as it had appeared. Today the media almost don't refer to it anymore."
Yup, I read about this on Monday (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/10/31/france.halloween.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest) and was curious how true it was until I heard it from someone actually there.
To put it simply...
It’s not a problem
We lazy ‘round
Bubbly and stubborn
We lazy ‘round
LOL. Pretty much sums it all up. I still have a hard time with remembering the conversions in Chem and Physics. :(
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