Short Stuff: Why is holly a holiday thing? | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and it's ho ho. short stuff here on short stuff. >> That's right. Uh we're we're stealing. one potential thing from our Christmas. episode just to do a a Christmas style. shorty to get in the spirit of things. And we're going to be talking about. holly today. >> Uh like you know the plant. It's a it's. a shrub. It can be a tree. Uh it's in. North America. It's in Asia. It's in. Europe. There are a lot of different.

species. And like I said, some can be. little shorty uh shorty shrubs, >> some can be big old trees, but everyone. knows holly for those uh waxy leaves. that will draw blood and those little. crimson berries that grow on them. >> Yeah. But there's something about holly. that I did not know until I was studying. was that they bloom in the spring and. early summer. Have you ever seen a holly. plant bloom white flowers? >> I don't know. Oh, I I my dirty secret is.

I don't love holly just cuz it's so. pointy and sharp. It's it's almost like. a thorn bush, you know. >> Yeah, I have a big old holly tree uh. outside the house and. >> it was getting a little thin, so I've. started to um fertilize it twice a year. and it is not fun to get under there and. fertilize the holly. >> Yeah, that's that's no good. >> But it is pretty and I love all the. berries and I love the birds coming to. eat the berries and I love that the. birds love that I love the birds coming. to eat the berries and so on and so. forth. So, I do have a special place in.

my heart for Holly. >> Uh, well, we'll go over the most boring. part of this all, which is root words. Um, holly, it's a Christmas thing, obviously, but it didn't come from the. word holy, which you may be surprised. about. I wasn't. Um, old English will. translate it uh as holen. >> Nice. >> Uh, old Norse, holer. >> Nice. >> Dutch holst. >> Nice. >> French uh what would that be? Frenchie. Ho. >> ho. >> Nice. >> Sound like you're from Philly. Higgy.

Uh, and then Welsh is Salin and German. >> I don't think that's how you say that, but that's how you spell it. I have no. idea. There's only like 10 people who. can pronounce Welsh. >> German. I know this one is Palma. >> Yeah, I like that one. >> Uh, but it all probably comes from proto. Indo-Uropean languages at the base, which is Qel, which means prickly or to. prick. Yeah, there you go. End of root. word segment.

>> Yeah. Wake up everyone. >> So, um, one thing I didn't know is. apparently in long-standing tradition. because this is Holly is another great. example of how, um, you associate with. Christmas, uh, Christians have kind of. adopted it with their own kind of. symbolism associated with it. But it. goes back way further than that. And. it's kind of from all over the place. because holly grows in um not just. Europe, not just North America, but Asia. as well. It's a really welltraveled, welltrodd shrub that because it stands.

out so much in winter. It's usually. evergreen. Those leaves are. unmistakable. The berries are just so. bright red against like a snowy. background that it does make a lot of. sense that cultures from around the. world and over the course of time would. have been like that. >> I'm going to drape a bunch of symbolism. on that plant. Yeah, for sure. Um, I. think a lot of times it's associated. through like ancient cultures, uh, with. good luck, uh, in this case, good luck. for men specifically because, uh, for.

good luck for women, uh, ivy is that. counterpart. And if you've ever heard. the English Christmas carol, the holly. and the ivy, uh, that's what they're. talking about. Um, yeah, it is uh again. a sacred plant from the Druids. A lot of. cultures thought it was like good luck. to put it in your house because it's. hearty and strong and again those bright. red colors when it's harsh outside means. it's got to be good luck to put it on. your house. But it gets even more. specific sometimes that um like it'll. ward off uh lightning and a lightning.

storm. >> Be cool. >> Uh it'll protect your house. Uh if you. were in Rome, uh they would associate it. with Saturn. So it obviously uh came. about during their Saturnalia festival a. lot. >> which has a huge influence on Christmas. That was the Romans mid to late December. winter festival. >> Yeah. >> So they used holly and then when the. Christians came around the Romans are. like you're not allowed to use holly for. your Christmas celebration whatever that. is. >> Yeah. >> Uh it was banned apparently at least at. first. Um and then like you said the. druids also had their own thing going on.

too. So this is all happening at at. different times. I mean the Romans would. have been celebrating Saturnelia while. the Druids would have been celebrating. their own thing. I don't know that one. influenced the other. I know that they. were connected via Rome at one point in. time, but I feel like the Druids. celebration and use of Holly in the. wintertime was contemporaneous and not. influenced by the Romans. I could be. wrong, though. >> All right. I bet someone knows. >> Yeah, I'd love to know. >> Uh you did mention some Christian. symbolism. Um, you know, anytime you see.

anything red generally in Christianity, that's going to symbolize the blood of. Christ from the crucifixion. Uh, the the, you know, the the legend. was that those berries were white, but. then Christ blood stained them red as a. reminder. Uh, and then the pointed, you. know, the pointy points that I hate so. much symbolized the crown of thorns. during the crucifixion. Uh, and in fact. in German, um, it is known as. Christthornne or Christ thorn. So that's. pretty obvious. >> Sure. Should we take a break?

>> Yeah, we should. >> All right, enough of that. Uh let's talk. after the break uh about the the plant. itself right after this.

Okay, Chuck, you made a lot of big. promises about talking about the holly. plant itself before the break, and I. feel like. >> we have to to deliver on them. >> Yeah. Uh I mean, it's generally an. evergreen, but not always. It can also. uh be deciduous, which is kind of cool. weird. >> Yeah. >> Oh, is that it? >> Yeah, that's all I got. >> The most of them are evergreen though,

like I said, around the world, which is. why people are like, "I really like that. plant in winter time." I guess that they. are good in shade. They're good in. sunlight. They do like well- drained. soil. Um, and they are either a male. plant or a female plant, which means. they're dio. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Dioishious. I nailed it. Um, and. the male plants and the female plants. both flower, which is how they. pollinate, but only the female plants. are the ones that uh produce berries. >> That's right. Uh, and you know, they.

need to be close to one another. obviously for that uh production to. occur. So, the male plant has to be near. enough to a female plant. >> Sure. >> Uh, that pollination happens thanks to. our little bee friends. Uh, and also as. it turns out, well, not. crosspollination, but as far as um, you. know, spreading that seed. That's. thanks, uh, mostly to birds, obviously. >> Well, yeah, the birds like to eat the. the the berries with the four seeds in. them, and they go poop them out and a. new holly plant grows. Have you ever. looked down and seen a little holly.

plant sticking up out of the ground? >> Yeah, me too. I stomped that thing out. >> That means that a bird pooped there at. some point. Yeah, I'd never thought of. it that that way, but I can only think. of it that way from now on, though. >> Yeah, I mean, it's true. There's really. no other way to look at it. >> Uh, you know, who doesn't like to eat. those red berries? >> Who? >> Uh, humans because it's no good for you. It's uh it's toxic to us. Um, I mean, you I don't know if it could kill you. You'd probably have to eat a ton of. those. Uh, and you'd probably be.

vomiting long long before you died. >> such that you would say, "Hey, maybe. don't eat those." But uh yeah, nausea, bad bad stomach aches. So don't eat. those red berries, which is, you know, big for kids because when you see that. red berry and you're a kid, it looks. like something you should pick off and. eat. >> It it does for sure. >> Yeah. >> Um there's an old druid legend that if. you eat a holly berry, it'll upset your. stomach. >> Yeah. Pretty good. Uh there's also I had not heard of this, but there's something called bird lime. that you can make by boiling the bark of. a holly tree specifically,

and it makes this sticky substance that. you can then take and like paint onto. the limbs of say a holly tree or any. tree. >> That's crazy. >> And it's so sticky it'll trap small. birds that a light on those limbs. I. guess the only reason you would want to. do this is if you want to capture a. bird, which you shouldn't be doing. anyway, but um if you don't get to the. bird in time, the bird will starve to. death. It's that sticky and holds that. fast. So, it's illegal actually in some. countries. So, please don't start making. bird lime because you heard about it on.

this episode. >> No, don't do that. Uh but what you could. do uh if you're into carving things uh. apparently the the Holl's wood is very. hard great for carving and a lot of. chess pieces uh can be made out of Holly. um Hollywood because Hollywood uh which. I think is kind of cool because I my. friend have started playing chess for. the first time since probably high. school uh because Ruby is in chess club. and she's asked me to play chess with. her. So,

>> uh, we've been playing every night and. it's I'm having a ball playing chess. with her. >> Is that why you picked this episode? >> No, it's not why, but it's pretty. interesting because I was I played I. dabbled in chess in high school. I was. never good or learned any strategy or. technique or took any classes or clubs. >> So, it's all just intuition. And so, I'm. basically at the point where she is at. 10 years old. Neat. >> Uh, in her, you know, kind of learning. strategy a little bit. And so we're like. pretty evenly matched and it's it's just.

a lot of fun. Like I'm it's opening. brain pathways that uh I did like. strategical pathways that aren't tapped. into very much for me. Uh so I'm really. digging it. And for Christmas I already. threw it on in like a really nice. handcarved chess set for us as a little. surprise. >> That's cool. How did she get into chess? >> Just chess club at school. She signed up. for I have no idea why. Probably some. boy was in it that she had a crush on. would be my guess. Has she uh she's. like, "This is gonna make his bow tie. spin when I join.". >> I think so. >> Has she seen The Queen's Gambit yet?

>> Uh, no. Uh, I don't know how much you. get into that yet. I bet I bet Searching. for Bobby Fisher could be a good one, though, for her. >> Okay. All right. We'll start with that. Make sure she sees the Queen's Gambit at. some point. >> All right. >> Uh, one other thing you can do with. Hollywood because it's so dense and. sturdy is create a walking stick out of. it. >> Oh. And if you uh carve a walking stick. out of holly wood and there's not a. druid on the end, throw it away and. start over because you did it wrong. >> That sounds great.

>> You got anything else? >> I got nothing else. >> Oh, everybody then that means this happy. holiday edition of Short Stuff is out. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows.