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Trick or treat
Nov. 5th, 2013 11:26 amFrom an article about a particular family and their decision not to celebrate Halloween:
"we don’t like the idea of 'trick or treat' – give me candy or I’ll trick you"
There are various things potentially worth talking about in this article, but that line kind of took me by surprise. Is that what the actual modern practice of trick-or-treating entails? In my upbringing, "trick or treat" was basically a content-free formula with no more meaning than 'I am participating in the ritual of Halloween!'. (Cf. "Simon says", which doesn't mean 'I'm conveying orders from Simon [whoever that is]', but rather just has a particular function in the rules of a game.) I guess I may have had a very vague awareness that "trick or treat" might have originated from some kind of "give me candy or I'll trick you" quasi-threat, but I never had any awareness that the synchronic practice of trick-or-treating involved any steps other than (1) wear costume, (2) knock on door, (3) say "trick or treat", (4) get candy; there's no alternative step to take if someone doesn't give you candy other than going to the next house. Is that not the case?
"we don’t like the idea of 'trick or treat' – give me candy or I’ll trick you"
There are various things potentially worth talking about in this article, but that line kind of took me by surprise. Is that what the actual modern practice of trick-or-treating entails? In my upbringing, "trick or treat" was basically a content-free formula with no more meaning than 'I am participating in the ritual of Halloween!'. (Cf. "Simon says", which doesn't mean 'I'm conveying orders from Simon [whoever that is]', but rather just has a particular function in the rules of a game.) I guess I may have had a very vague awareness that "trick or treat" might have originated from some kind of "give me candy or I'll trick you" quasi-threat, but I never had any awareness that the synchronic practice of trick-or-treating involved any steps other than (1) wear costume, (2) knock on door, (3) say "trick or treat", (4) get candy; there's no alternative step to take if someone doesn't give you candy other than going to the next house. Is that not the case?
