Phrase Origins: Trick or Treat

Every October 31^st, it’s a phrase people are familiar hearing. Some people only hear it on television while others let children come to their doors and hand out candy. Of course, that phrase is “trick or treat!” Sometimes this phrase is included in a small verse that is always said in a sing-song voice and goes, “Trick or treat / smell my feet / give me something good to eat.” There are some different endings to the rhyme, but I do not know them.

There doesn’t seem to be an origin of the phrase other than the obvious meaning that it is given for saying the phrase “trick or treat” on Halloween. This is because the children want the candy, or a treat. When the phrase “trick or treat” is said, it means “I will play a trick on you unless you give me a treat.”

While the origin and meaning of the phrase “trick or treat” is easy, trick or treating has a long history. The tradition seems to have originated in medieval Europe. At first, people would go from house to house on November ^2nd (All Souls’ Day) to ask for food and they would pray for the dead. This practice was called “souling” and originated from a pagan ritual.

November 2^nd is All Souls’ Day. It is November 1st that is All Saints’ Day. October 31^st is All Hallow’s Eve, which was shortened to “Halloween.”

It is not certain why the practice of going from door to door moved from November 2^nd to October 31^st. This seems especially odd since there were celebrations that occurred in England to celebrate that the Gunpowder Plot was defeated by Guy Fawkes. These happened on November 5^th. Guy Fawkes prematurely executed himself by jumping with the noose around his neck instead of letting other execute him. The celebrations that happen on November 5^th have Guy Fawkes symbolically re-executed every year by burning effigies of him over bonfires. These effigies are called “guys.” Children would go around to different parties or houses and ask for a “penny for the guy.” It was tradition that the pennies that were collected were traditionally used to buy fireworks.

However, it has an the practice of trick or treating and saying or even yelling the phrase “trick or treat” is now common in the United States.

The first known citation of the phrase “trick or treat” is from the November 1, 1934 edition of The Oregon Journal in which is printed, “Other young goblins and ghosts, employing modern shakedown methods, successfully worked the ‘trick or treat’ system in all parts of the city” for a story titled, “Halloween Pranks Keep Police on Hop.”

Sources:

Martin, G. (n.d.). Trick or treat?. The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases | List of sayings | English sayings | Idiom definitions | Idiom examples | Idiom origins | List of idioms | Idiom dictionary | Meaning of idioms. Retrieved July 23, 2010, from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/trick-or-treat.html

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