Mardi Gras
/ˌmɑːdɪ ˈɡrɑː
/ /maʀdi ɡʀɑ/- Yes, Virginia, there will be a Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2006.
- The loping interplay of euphonium, trumpet, sax and trombone on ‘Segala’, and the glorious swagger of Oblemou wouldn't sound out of place at a Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
- The museum stocks stuff like the necklace Britney wore in a Mardi Gras parade and two dresses from her Star Search days.
- And if you want Europeans to attend more then make it a Mardi Gras and I think then the mayor will have a tourist attraction.
- We went out on the town taking in a Mardi Gras like there was no tomorrow.
Origin
French, literally 'fat Tuesday', alluding to the last day of feasting before the fast of Lent.
shrift from Old English:
To give someone short shrift is to treat them in a curt and dismissive way. The phrase originally referred to the short time that a condemned criminal was allowed to make their confession to a priest and be shriven, prescribed a penance, and absolved of their sins, before being executed. Its first use in the literal sense comes in Shakespeare's Richard III: ‘Make a short shrift, he longs to see your head.’ The Shrove in Shrove Tuesday is a form of shriven. As the day before the start of Lent, it is marked by feasting and celebration before the Lent fast begins. In Britain people eat pancakes on the day, giving the alternative name Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday. Other countries celebrate it as the carnival of Mardi Gras, French for ‘Fat Tuesday’. See also carnival