What Does Boxing Day Really Mean? British Christmas Traditions Explained

Dec 22, 2025
5 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Festive travel plans, useful English vocabulary, and how to talk about future plans in English

This post comes from my weekly English with Em newsletter.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you use them, I earn a small commission — it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

Weekly update

I’m writing this on Friday because Monday is going to be a busy day. I’ll be preparing for my trip to England!

I’m flying at the crack of dawn, which will be a bit painful, but it will be lovely to arrive early and have the whole day with my big brother and his family. I’ll be spending the main Christmas days with them.

This time next week, it will be Boxing Day (26th December), which is one of my favourite days over the Christmas period. The name actually has nothing to do with boxing as a sport. It originates from an old tradition in which employers gave their employees a box of food.

That tradition doesn’t exist anymore, at least not in England. Instead, Boxing Day is a day for relaxing, eating Christmas leftovers, watching films, playing board games, and, for me, drinking some good-quality wine. Also, the new season of Stranger Things continues that day, so my brother and I will definitely be watching that!

I’ll be travelling quite a lot over the Christmas period. On the 27th, I’ll be heading to my mum’s for a few days, where I’ll also catch up with my little brother (he's younger than me but much taller now, so it’s funny to refer to him as ‘little’) and his kids.

After that, I’m off to London to spend New Year with old uni friends. We keep in touch, but we only get to see each other once or twice a year, and it’s been around five years since I last saw one of them!

London is a magical place at Christmas; the lights are spectacular! That said, gone are the days when I enjoyed going out and partying. These days, I try to avoid crowded places. With that in mind, I’ll be spending New Year’s Eve at my friend’s house rather than going out on the town, but I’ll try to get some pictures to share with you when I’m back home.

Speaking of pictures, check out my mum’s Christmas tree 👇

I may have mentioned before that she’s obsessed with bears 🐻😂🎄

It's now Monday morning. How time flies! Wishing a wonderful Christmas to all those who celebrate, and a very happy and prosperous New Year. I'll be back with the next newsletter on 5th January.

New long-form YouTube lessons will take a little longer because I still haven't managed to get my faulty laptop replaced; they were supposed to pick it up twice last week. I waited at home all day Wednesday and Friday, but nobody came, so I've now insisted that they allow me to take it to a drop-off point. Hopefully they'll be ready to send a replacement when I get back after New Year.

Vocabulary list

The crack of dawn (phrase): Very early in the morning, just as the sun is rising.
Painful (adjective): Unpleasant or difficult to experience (not always related to physical pain).
Employees (noun): People who work for a company or organisation.
Leftovers (noun - always plural): Food that remains after a meal and is eaten later.
Board games (noun): Games played on a board, usually with pieces, cards, or dice.
Catch up with (phrasal verb): To spend time with someone and talk about what has happened since you last met.
Off (adverb): Used to say that someone is leaving or going somewhere.
Keep in touch (phrasal verb): To stay in contact with someone over time.
Get to (auxiliary verb): Used to talk about having the opportunity or chance to do something.
Crowded (adjective): Full of people, often uncomfortably so.
Out on the town (phrase): Going out to enjoy social activities, such as eating, drinking, or partying.
Check out (phrasal verb): To look at something or examine it, often because it is interesting.
Prosperous (adjective): Successful, wealthy, or financially comfortable.
Be supposed to (phrase): Used to say what is expected, planned, or required.
Drop-off point (noun): A place where something can be delivered or left, often for collection.

A photo of an usual Christmas tree, decorated with white lights and many white bears.

What's new on YouTube?

Short

🌟 However - C1 Meaning (NOT just 'contrast')

Learn a more advanced use of however that many learners miss.

🌟 Can You Name This Christmas Scene?

Learners often ask me how to say this in English.

An English pun for you!

What do you call a poor Santa Claus? St. Nickel-less.

Explanation at the end👇

Idiom of the week

Good things come in small packages

We say "good things come in small packages" to say that something doesn’t need to be big, expensive, or impressive in size to be valuable or enjoyable.

As I usually travel for Christmas, it’s not always easy to carry large presents. That’s why earrings are often at the top of my Christmas list. They don’t take up much space, and I love them. Good things come in small packages!

👉 The hotel room was quite small, but it was comfortable and beautifully designed. Good things come in small packages.

👉 She’s the shortest person on the team, but also the most confident. Good things come in small packages.

👉 The phone is smaller than my old one, but it’s faster and more powerful. Good things come in small packages.

Your questions answered

When do we use the future continuous tense?

The future continuous is formed with will be + -ing.

You may have noticed that I used this several times (without really thinking about it!) to talk about my Christmas plans!

It is used to talk about:

1) Actions that will be in progress at a specified future time

👉 On Monday, I'll be preparing for my trip to England.

2) Actions that will be ongoing or part of a routine over a future period

👉 I'll be travelling a lot over the Christmas period.

3) Predictions about an ongoing future situation at a specified future time

👉 Next summer, I'll be working at a university.

For a more detailed explanation of all the English tenses, get my Concise Guide to the English Verb Tenses.

✍️ Can you think of something you’ll be doing this time next week? Leave a comment below.

Explanation to the pun

Santa Claus is also called Saint Nicholas, which sounds very similar to nickel-less.

A nickel is a small US or Canadian coin worth five cents.

The suffix -less means 'without', e.g. colourless - without colour, doubtless - without doubt, useless - without a use.

If someone is nickel-less, they have no money.

So St. Nickel-less sounds like St. Nicholas, but it means a Santa who has no money.

I hope you enjoyed this post from my weekly English with Em newsletter. If you'd like to have these tips sent directly to your inbox, you can subscribe here.

Festive travel plans, useful English vocabulary, and how to talk about future plans in English

This post comes from my weekly English with Em newsletter.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you use them, I earn a small commission — it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

Weekly update

I’m writing this on Friday because Monday is going to be a busy day. I’ll be preparing for my trip to England!

I’m flying at the crack of dawn, which will be a bit painful, but it will be lovely to arrive early and have the whole day with my big brother and his family. I’ll be spending the main Christmas days with them.

This time next week, it will be Boxing Day (26th December), which is one of my favourite days over the Christmas period. The name actually has nothing to do with boxing as a sport. It originates from an old tradition in which employers gave their employees a box of food.

I’ll be travelling quite a lot over the Christmas period. On the 27th, I’ll be heading to my mum’s for a few days, where I’ll also catch up with my little brother (he's younger than me but much taller now, so it’s funny to refer to him as ‘little’) and his kids.

After that, I’m off to London to spend New Year with old uni friends. We keep in touch, but we only get to see each other once or twice a year, and it’s been around five years since I last saw one of them!

Speaking of pictures, check out my mum’s Christmas tree 👇

I may have mentioned before that she’s obsessed with bears 🐻😂🎄

It's now Monday morning. How time flies! Wishing a wonderful Christmas to all those who celebrate, and a very happy and prosperous New Year. I'll be back with the next newsletter on 5th January.

Vocabulary list

The crack of dawn (phrase): Very early in the morning, just as the sun is rising.

Painful (adjective): Unpleasant or difficult to experience (not always related to physical pain).

Employees (noun): People who work for a company or organisation.

Leftovers (noun - always plural): Food that remains after a meal and is eaten later.

Board games (noun): Games played on a board, usually with pieces, cards, or dice.

Catch up with (phrasal verb): To spend time with someone and talk about what has happened since you last met.

Off (adverb): Used to say that someone is leaving or going somewhere.

Keep in touch (phrasal verb): To stay in contact with someone over time.

Get to (auxiliary verb): Used to talk about having the opportunity or chance to do something.

Crowded (adjective): Full of people, often uncomfortably so.

Out on the town (phrase): Going out to enjoy social activities, such as eating, drinking, or partying.

Check out (phrasal verb): To look at something or examine it, often because it is interesting.

Prosperous (adjective): Successful, wealthy, or financially comfortable.

Be supposed to (phrase): Used to say what is expected, planned, or required.

Drop-off point (noun): A place where something can be delivered or left, often for collection.

What's new on YouTube?

Short

🌟 However - C1 Meaning (NOT just 'contrast')

Learn a more advanced use of however that many learners miss.

🌟 Can You Name This Christmas Scene?

Learners often ask me how to say this in English.

An English pun for you!

What do you call a poor Santa Claus? St. Nickel-less.

Explanation at the end👇

Idiom of the week

Good things come in small packages

We say "good things come in small packages" to say that something doesn’t need to be big, expensive, or impressive in size to be valuable or enjoyable.

As I usually travel for Christmas, it’s not always easy to carry large presents. That’s why earrings are often at the top of my Christmas list. They don’t take up much space, and I love them. Good things come in small packages!

👉 The hotel room was quite small, but it was comfortable and beautifully designed. Good things come in small packages.

👉 She’s the shortest person on the team, but also the most confident. Good things come in small packages.

👉 The phone is smaller than my old one, but it’s faster and more powerful. Good things come in small packages.

Your questions answered

When do we use the future continuous tense?

The future continuous is formed with will be + -ing.

You may have noticed that I used this several times (without really thinking about it!) to talk about my Christmas plans!

It is used to talk about:

1) Actions that will be in progress at a specified future time

👉 On Monday, I'll be preparing for my trip to England.

2) Actions that will be ongoing or part of a routine over a future period

👉 I'll be travelling a lot over the Christmas period.

3) Predictions about an ongoing future situation at a specified future time

👉 Next summer, I'll be working at a university.

For a more detailed explanation of all the English tenses, get my Concise Guide to the English Verb Tenses.

✍️ Can you think of something you’ll be doing this time next week? Leave a comment below.

Explanation to the pun

Santa Claus is also called Saint Nicholas, which sounds very similar to nickel-less.

A nickel is a small US or Canadian coin worth five cents.

The suffix -less means 'without', e.g. colourless - without colour, doubtless - without doubt, useless - without a use.

If someone is nickel-less, they have no money.

So St. Nickel-less sounds like St. Nicholas, but it means a Santa who has no money.

I hope you enjoyed this post from my weekly English with Em newsletter. If you'd like to have these tips sent directly to your inbox, you can subscribe here.

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