deck the halls is a well known and beloved christmas carol, but a lot of the vocabulary in the lyrics is archaic and confusing. the first verse which contains just 24 words has at least 12 words that might require some analysis for better understanding. there are numerous recorded versions of deck the halls. this one is from the disney animated production beauty and the beast–the enchanted christmas.
the first line says…
deck the halls with boughs of holly
deck means decorate. hall in this case refers to big rooms for events, not corridors inside of a building. a bough is a tree branch, holly is a plant associated with the holiday season.
a bough of holly
the second line is…
’tis the season to be jolly
’tis is a contraction of it is. jolly means happy, gay. which leads to the third line of the verse…
don we now our gay apparel
don means put on. gay in this song means happy. it is not referring to sexuality. apparel means clothes. so in modern english we might say let’s put on our party clothes.
christmas apparel with yoda and deck the halls lyrics (merchold.com)
finally, the last line says
troll the ancient yuletide carol
troll in deck the halls does not mean post agressive, offensive or cruel material online, which is the most common application of the word nowadays. in the song it means sing loudly and enthsiastically. many christmas traditions evolved from celebrations of the winter solstice (december 21–the longest night and shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere) known as yuletide. it can also be understood as a synonym for christmas. carols are christmas songs.
the trolls in this movie do a lot of trolling (singing)
another disney movie contains this version of deck the halls sung by debby ryan. she actually changes the lyrics from ’tis to it’s and troll to sing.
what other confusing vocabulary have u found in christmas carols? share your experience under leave a reply