Dec. 20, 2025
The 12 Days of Christmas
The 12 Days of Christmas: History, symbolism, and fun facts about the famous holiday song.
You may also like ODD ONE OUT. a new podcast with Mark Ellison! Mark gives you 4 words, you decide which word does not belong. Three rounds daily, quick and fun,
Portions of today's trivia podcast were made with the help of AI.
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Calaruga Shark Media. Hi, I'm Mark Ellison. In today's theme
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is the Twelve Days of Christmas? History, symbolism, and fun
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facts about the famous holiday song. Question one. Before it
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became a sing along staple, the Twelve Days of Christmas
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appeared in seventeen eighty as a spoken memory and forfeit
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game for children. What is the name of the small
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chapbook that contains the earliest known English printing of the lyrics?
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Question two? In early versions of the carol, the fourth
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day's gift wasn't calling birds? What older term meaning cole
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black was originally used for those birds? Question three? The
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drawn out five go old rings that many of us
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sing today traces to a popular nineteen oh nine arrangement
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that helped fix the tune and phrasing. English composer and
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baritone published that influential version. Question four. If the gifts
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are received cumulatively, meaning each day you get that day's
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gifts plus all the previous days again, how many total
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gifts would you receive over the twelve days? Question five.
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Since nineteen eighty four, a US financial institution has tallied
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a whimsical Christmas price index that estimates the cost of
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buying everything in the song? Which bank produces this annual report.
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We'll be right back with these answers after this break.
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Welcome back. Question one what seventeen eighty chap book first
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printed the lyrics? Answer? Mirth Without Mischief, Published in London
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in seventeen eighty. Mirth Without Mischief presents the verses as
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a recitation game rather than a song. The familiar melody
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and modern form were standardized later. Question two, what was
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calling birds? Originally? Answer? Collie birds. Collie comes from coal,
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meaning black, so four collie birds refers to blackbirds. The
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wording gradually shifted to calling birds in the nineteenth and
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twentieth centuries. Question three who published the influential nineteen oh
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nine arrangement? Answer Frederick Austen. Frederick Austin's nineteen oh nine
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arrangement standardized the melody widely used today and popularized the
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elongated treatment of five gold rings. Question four how many
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total gifts are received cumulatively? Answer three hundred and sixty four.
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The carol is cumulative one on day one, three, by
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day two, six, by day three, and so on, summing
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to three hundred and sixty four. Its one gift short
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of the number of days in a non leap year.
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Question five, Which bank creates the Christmas Price Index answer?
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PNC Bank. PNC Bank's index tracks the price of each
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gift and the true cost of Christmas when repeats are counted.
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It's a light hearted inflation snap shot with a festive
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twist that concludes to day's five daily trivia questions. I'm
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Mark Ellison, and today's questions were crafted with the help
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of AI technology. See you Tomorrow.
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