Et cetera : 'Silent Night' by any other name: The Christmas Song Thesaurus

Multisyllabic expressions are intermittently an essential aspect of my preferred modus operandi for communications, as well as entertainment. In other words, I like to use big words, not only for more effective communication with other people, but also, sometimes, just for the fun of it. Sometimes I even invent my own wordish concoctions. So, when we had a Christmas Hymn Synonym contest at a church Christmas party a few years ago, I found a funderful idea for a column. Below is a list of 30 Christmas hymns and songs (some new, many old), but they are written a la thesaurus. See how many you can identify: 1. Move hitherward the entire assembly of those who are loyal in their belief. 2. Listen, the celestial messengers produce harmonious sounds. 3. Nocturnal time span of unbroken quietness. 4. An emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good given to the terrestrial sphere. 5. Embellish the interior passageways. 6. Exalted heavenly beings to whom listened. 7. Twelve O'clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival. 8. The Christmas preceding all others. 9. Small municipality in Judea southeast of Jerusalem. 10. Diminutive masculine master of skin-covered percussionistic cylinders. 11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to distinguished males. 12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere. 13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystals. 14. Expectation of arrival to populated area by mythical, masculine perennial gift-giver. 15. Natal celebration devoid of color. 16. In awe of the nocturnal time span characterized by religiosity. 17. Geographic state of fantasy during the season of mother nature's dormancy. 18. The first person nominative plural of a triumvirate of far Eastern heads of state. 19. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted, metallic, resonant cups. 20. In a distant location the existence of an improvise unit of newborn children's slumber furniture. 21. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geological alpine formation. 22. Jovial Yuletide desired for the second person singular or plural by us. 23. Matriarch encounters death due to unexpected collision with fabled animal serving as seasonal snow-traversing vehicle power source. 24. Upon his arrival, the fictitious seasonal character bore a striking resemblance to the paternal ancestor. 25. Yours truly observed an embrace between the maternal mortal and the fabled beard-wearing man attired in crimson fabric. 26. This first person singular fully intends to have made an arrival at his domicile at a time preceding the 25th sunrise of the 12th month. 27. The exterior conditions have commenced their annual climatic and societal metamorphosis indicating the soon arrival of the holiday season. 28. The dozen 24-hour time periods belonging to the season celebrated a week before the new year. 29. Does the second person singular or plural experience the identical euphony as the first person singular is now encountering? 30. The resonant poem which delineates the virtues of the holiday. In case you couldn't figure them out, here are the answers: 1. O come, all ye faithful 2. Hark, the herald angels sing 3. Silent night. 4. Joy to the world. 5. Deck the halls. 6. Angels we have heard on high. 7. It came upon a midnight clear. 8. The first noel. 9. O little town of Bethlehem. 10. Little drummer boy. 11. God rest ye, merry gentlemen. 12. Peace on earth. 13. Frosty the snowman. 14. Santa Claus is coming to town. 15. White Christmas. 16. O holy night. 17. Winter wonderland. 18. We three kings. 19. Jingle bells. 20. Away in a manger. 21. Go tell it on the mountain. 22. We wish you a merry Christmas. 23. Grandma got run over by a reindeer. 24. Santa looked a lot like daddy. 25. I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus. 26. I'll be home for Christmas. 27. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. 28. The 12 days of Christmas. 29. Do you hear what I hear? 30. The Christmas song. How well did you do? The above was actually a Christmas quiz. The scale below, based on A Christmas Carol, indicates your seasonal aptitude. 25-30 correct: You love Christmas so much you leave your decorations up year-round, play Christmas music in October and send musical cards to Scrooge each December. 20-24 correct: You're not perfect, but Tiny Tim still looks up to you. 10-19 correct: You probably have a hard time getting your boss to let you have the day off. 0-9 correct: If I were you, I would get really nervous if I heard the sounds of chains clanking up my stairs.