Birthday

A birthday is the date on which a person was born. It is customary in many cultures to celebrate the anniversary of one's birthday in some way, for example by having a birthday party with friends in which gifts are given. It is also customary to treat someone especially well and generally accede to their wishes on their birthday.

Western birthday traditions

• In most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song Happy Birthday to You to the honored person celebrating their birthday. Similar songs exist in other languages, such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch. This happens traditionally at a birthday party while someone brings a birthday cake into the (often darkened) room.
• The birthday cake is traditionally a highly decorated cake, and is typically covered with lit candles when presented; the number of candles often equals the age of the person (this tradition becomes very difficult for people of roughly 40 years or older, and is often abanded far younger as it can feel a bit childish or just isn't worth the fuzz amongst adults). The person whose birthday it is makes a silent wish and then blow out the candles; if done in one breath, the wish is supposed to come true. Another common superstition is that if you reveal your birthday wish, it won't come true. Except in the case of young children, it is also very common for the "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" to cut the initial piece of the cake like the couple does with a wedding cake.

The singing of the song also sometimes happens at a restaurant when one gets taken out for their birthday. The server or servers in the restaurant may lead the singing of the song while dessert is delivered to the table (which may or may not be a piece of cake, and may or may not be complimentary). The dessert may feature a sparkler instead of a candle. Other customers at the restaurant usually join in for the singing of the song. At some restaurants the servers may perform special, untraditional birthday songs and dances.

Related Topics:
Restaurant - Server - Dessert - Sparkler

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For special birthdays and for when the number of candles might be considered impractical or a fire hazard, special candles might be substituted for the many individual candles. These candles are in the shape of a numeral; for example on one's 5th birthday there may be only one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral 5, and on one's 50th birthday there may be two candles on the cake, one in the shape of the numeral 5 followed by the other in the shape of the numeral 0.

Related Topics:
Fire - Hazard - Numeral

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• A birthday is considered a special day for the person, and so the person will often get special treatment from friends and family. This is specially true for children who cannot wait for their own special day. In contrast, many adults loathe the reminder that they are continually getting older. In addition to parties, people often get gifts on their birthday. Often, the honored person gets a "birthday hug" from friends and family. For older people a birthday may be a prompt for their grown-up children to write or call.
• Birthday parties for children often include fun games, like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Musical Chairs and hitting piñatas. For adults, the parties tend to be more formal, such as a nice dinner at a restaurant. Despite the age, these parties have the intent of making the honored person very happy. In jest, the birthday is sometimes referred to as the "Best day of the year" and the day after the birthday is the "worst day of the year" since one must wait a whole year for their next birthday!
• There are also traditions of surprise parties. This sometimes causes people to feel ignored because it appears their birthday has been forgotten, when actually it has not been mentioned because a surprise party has been planned. Conversely, some people do not mention that nothing is planned for their birthday, because they expect a surprise party.
• Still not all traditions as equally generous. In certain circles the birthday boy (or girl) is expected to treat his fellows, often by shouting one or more round of drinks (not allows compensated for by a gift), or worse, may receive a birthday spanking.
• It is also traditional in schools in some areas of Scotland to 'Bump' people on their birthday. this involves them being hoisted face up by arms and legs and dropped, not quite hitting the ground for the number of times which their birthday is plus one when they often literally come to earth with a bump.
• Another tradition in schools are 'birthday beats', in which the birthday child receives a the number of punches on his arm that equate to his age (e.g. A 14 year old would receive 14 punches on the arm). Usually it is followed with a 'one for luck' punch which tends to be harder than the rest. Birthday beats are considered bullying and tend to ruin many children's special days.