Cultural Traditions from Around the World
The Tomedes team has explored numerous cultural customs from around the world in the spirit of understanding different cultures from more than just a linguistic aspect – you can utilise our localization services for that – We discovered a variety of rituals and traditions along the road, ranging from the beautiful to the distressing to the bizarre.
Why don’t you sit down with a cup of coffee and let us take you on a tour of some of the world’s most fascinating cultural traditions?
Tradition and Culture
Let us begin with a few definitions. After all, we enjoy language in all of its forms at Tomedes. (On that note, you may read our article on cultural linkages and figures of speech by clicking the link below.)
Traditions Culturally Distinctive
Culture and tradition are intricately interwoven. Both have evolved over a long period of time. Traditions are usually unique to a particular society and are based on local beliefs and circumstances. These can be used to a wide range of situations in daily life.
Wedding Cake in the United Kingdom
Few aspects of our daily lives have spawned as many traditions as the food we consume. Food-based traditions are a significant aspect of practically every culture, from the tools we use to eat and the way we sit to the foods we identify with specific seasons of the year.
In the United Kingdom, for example, it is customary for a newlywed couple to freeze the top tier of their wedding cake and eat it on their first wedding anniversary a year later. This is intended to bring the couple good fortune. A traditional wedding cake is created from alcohol-soaked fruitcake and topped with marzipan and royal icing, so it doesn’t deteriorate.
Italy’s Eating Jesus
Some customs are shared by multiple countries. Religious customs are a great example of this (though there are, of course, many religious traditions that are unique to a single society or people).
Religious traditions are extremely important to people all across the world, from pilgrimages to specific day celebrations. They foster a sense of spiritual and human connection, as well as assisting people in defining themselves and their beliefs.
Food is also tied to many religious traditions. Catholics, for example, eat an unleavened bread wafer at holy communion. They think they are devouring the body of Jesus Christ through a mystical process called as transubstantiation.
India’s Red Brides
Clothing has a long history in many cultures around the world. The colour worn by a bride on her wedding day is typically customary and regarded to bring good fortune. Brides in China wear red, while brides in the United States wear white.
Red is also worn by Hindu brides in the shape of a bridal sari or a lehenga (this differs according to the region of India that the bride lives in). Click the link below to learn more about Indian customs and traditions, as well as the significance of localising in order to respect those traditions.
Magpies in the United Kingdom
Traditions associated with good fortune are not limited to bridal gowns. Many traditions are based on superstitions, which are commonly held yet irrational beliefs about things like luck and the supernatural.
The magpie is a great example of this. Wearing a magpie feather as a sign of boldness was a custom among some Native American tribes. Many Christian cultures, on the other hand, think that witnessing a lone magpie brings bad luck. Various rituals have developed over time to stave off bad luck. Some people salute, some say good morning to the lone bird, and still others merely doff their cap.
Traditions and customs associated to warding off bad luck and boosting good luck can be found all throughout the world.