Do the english celebrate valentine's day?
146606
We do.\nAnd look here for history:
533321
Here is a website that tells about how different wedding traditions of various cultures:\n\nhttp://www.vfwpost1503.org/different_cultures.htm\n\nHere are Valentine's Day traditions from different countries:\n\nhttp://www.stvalentines.net/traditions.htm\nhttp://www.romanceclass.com/miscr/vday/traditions.asp\nhttp://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/2_melissa.html\nhttp://www.romanceeverafter.com/valentine's_day_around_the_world.htm\nhttp://www.everythingvalentinesday.com/valentine-day-traditions/valentine-in-others.html\n\nSince most countries observe Valentine's Day~this was the best place to look for celebrations of love in other cultures.  I hope this was helpful in your research!
171841
Happy valentines Day.
1096072
NO, NO, and a thousand times: NO! Despite the comments I made answering a question on a different issue earlier, I wish to set the record straight and state that I am proud to call myself a citizen of the United Kingdom. I always will admit to being a fiercely proud Englishman, but I have a great affinity with Scotland and Wales, and I do love visiting both countries. I always wear a red rose and red & white ribbons on 23rd April (St George's day), but a close friend of mine always wears a daffodil or leek badge on March 1st (being a proud Welshman), and we always wish each other well on our respective Saint's days. Being Northumbrian-born, I have always loved many things Scottish, and my family and I always have a haggis on Burns' Night (we love it). So it's fair to say that despite devolution, the UK is still as cohesive as ever. God save the Queen.\n\np.s., Oh and Starshafter 1, kindly get off your high horse. We don't all hate Scotland or it's people. Be proud of who you are and learn to laugh at it, and yourselves too. We can take a bit of flack from you guys, so please learn to take a bit too.
47573
Well, you just have to find someone who shares the same V-day opinion that you do.  My husband and I love V-day b/c it's our anniversary.  We share that as our day.  Not as a commercialized holiday.
904308
It is a British term of endearment.
145205
If it's midnight or later on the 14th, it's Valentine's Day. \n\n(I suggest you invest in a clock and a calendar.)
138221
We buy valentines day cards and flowers for our valentines (the commercial aspect) and we take them out or stay home for a romantic dinner (the romantic aspect).\n\nPS Did I forget to mention CHOCOLATE!!! :)
740321
No we Brits do not celebrate Thanksgiving we celebrate Christmas and New Year only.  Sorry to disappoint.
35658
Roman Roots\nThe history of Valentine's Day is obscure, and further clouded by various fanciful legends. The holiday's roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.\n\nValentines Galore\nWhich St. Valentine this early pope intended to honor remains a mystery: according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there were at least three early Christian saints by that name. One was a priest in Rome, another a bishop in Terni, and of a third St. Valentine almost nothing is known except that he met his end in Africa. Rather astonishingly, all three Valentines were said to have been martyred on Feb. 14.\n\nMost scholars believe that the St. Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270. At this stage, the factual ends and the mythic begins. According to one legend, Claudius II had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine." Probably the most plausible story surrounding St. Valentine is one not focused on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion.\n\nIn 1969, the Catholic Church revised its liturgical calendar, removing the feast days of saints whose historical origins were questionable. St. Valentine was one of the casualties.\n\nChaucer's Love Birds\nIt was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love. According to UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine, it was Chaucer who first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance.\n\nIn 1381, Chaucer composed a poem in honor of the engagement between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. As was the poetic tradition, Chaucer associated the occasion with a feast day. In "The Parliament of Fowls," the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine's Day are linked:\n\nFor this was on St. Valentine's Day, \nWhen every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.\n\nTradition of Valentine's Cards\n Over the centuries, the holiday evolved, and by the 18th century, gift-giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine's Day had become common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring cupids and hearts eventually spread to the American colonies. The tradition of Valentine's cards did not become widespread in the United States, however, until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate and native of Worcester, Mass., began mass-producing them. Today, of course, the holiday has become a booming commercial success. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are valentines.
83028
the roman catholics started it! it is SAINT valentine's day. believe it or not, back in mideval times, almost every day celebrated the life of some saint. now, pretty much only saint patrick's day and saint valentine's day live on, since hallmark has found ways to make money off of them. \nanyways, st. valentine's day is just a day to celebrate the life of st. valentine, the patron saint of love.
93549
of course it's okay to celebrate the valentine's day. I am a muslim and I have already made plans with my boyfriend!
1039088
LOL!! i am English but its funny, and sad in some ways\n\nIt just shows how we cant behave if we win or lose a match, our english guys go and have to many beers and start braking things and causing fights\nIts a shame that they represent teh whole country and ruin our reputation \n\nD: D: D: D: D: :(
70065
I have to agree with honeybunches. I never had a valentine, so I would love to just have a girl, my girl with me on that specail day. Just being with someone you care about a lot on holiday and events is good enought.
26325
this is my opinion...if you're doing this for love it doesnt matter what day it is, if it happens to be valentines its on valentines day.
681429
My husband's is St. George (celebrated on 5th May in the orthodox caledar).\n\nI think mine also ought to be St. George as I'm English! (celebrated on 23rd April in the Church of England calendar).
750631
St Martin is not heavily celebrated in the UK, but is is very much celebrated amonst a large portion of Europe.\n\n"On November 11, St. Martin's Day, children in Flanders, the southern and north-western parts of the Netherlands, the Catholic areas of Germany and Austria participate in paper lantern processions. Often, a man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front of the procession. The children sing songs about St. Martin and about their lantern. The food traditionally eaten on the day is goose. According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him.\n\nAlso in the east part of the Belgian province of East-Flanders and the west part of West Flanders, children receive presents from St. Martin on November 11, instead of from Saint Nicholas on December 6, or Santa Claus on December 25."\n\nApparantly he is also important in Latin America too.  I would guess he is most celebrated in Catholic nations while protestant nations do not celebrate him as much.\n\nEnjoy the chestnuts!