10 Myths About Christmas

One of the most beloved Christmas traditions, especially in America, is decorating a Christmas tree. Most people think it's been around, well, forever. But the Christmas tree is actually a pretty recent holiday tradition. German immigrants brought the tradition here in the mid-18th century, yet 100 years later it still hadn't really caught on. In fact, it was downright controversial. The New York Times wrote an editorial against the practice in the 1880s, and when Teddy Roosevelt was president in the early 1900s, he railed against cutting down trees for Christmas, saying it was a waste of good timber. The tradition, of course, took hold regardless.
Despite Christmas' popularity among Christians and non-Christians alike, little-known facts like this -- and even outright myths -- abound. From the holiday's religious origins to Mr. and Mrs. Claus to that great, evergreen symbol, the Yuletide tree, here are 10 enduring Christmas myths, exposed at last.

10 Completely Wrong Ways to Use Commas

Some say proper grammar is on its way out. Rapid-fire communications technologies, particularly short forms like texting and Twitter, seem to make the use of complete sentences, let alone correct punctuation, very 20th century.
Despite all acronymic evidence to the contrary, grammar matters -- because writing matters. As a way of communicating with others both within and well beyond one's personal sphere, writing is as good as it gets. It is, at its most basic, how we share our ideas, and in practice it's our most effective method of presenting ourselves to others. In short, the ability to write effectively is indispensible, especially in this high-tech age of physical distance combined with intellectual intimacy. And writing effectively requires the proper use of words, structures and punctuation: There are those who, on finding an egregiously misplaced comma in the first sentence of a blog post, will assume the author isn't worth reading.

10 Strange American Traditions

How do you plan on celebrating New Year's Eve this year? Will you run around the neighborhood, chucking old dishware at people's front doors? If you live in Denmark, you might do just that. Or perhaps you'll pick some famous person or event that made a splash in the news during the year, construct an effigy, then light it on fire and watch it burn? Doesn't sound like you? It might, if you were Ecuadorean.
Traditions vary widely around the world, and the ways of one society often seem downright wacky to others. American culture and traditions, thanks to the hard work of Hollywood and other arms of the nation's media multiplex, have become well-known in most corners of the map. But that doesn't always mean people in other countries find some of these customs less bizarre than Americans consider theirs.