Folks around the world (especially places influenced by Britain) celebrate Boxing Day today; and tomorrow folks in Edinburgh, Scotland begin their four-day Hominy Festival. As the revelry gets underway, we look at the stories behind the names of those special days.

The term Boxing Day has nothing to do with fisticuffs. Although the name sounds pugilistic, the term simply comes from the practice of presenting Christmas boxes to service workers on the first weekday after Christmas.

And Hominy? The origins of that name are disputed, but some scholars believe the word derives from a 16th-century Northern French dialect term. The Scottish have used the term to name their New Year's Eve celebration (or to a gift given at it) since at least the 1600s.

Traditional hominy gifts, which are also called handles, can range from cakes and oranges to a lump of coal or a bottle of whiskey. Hominy also names the process of going from house to house on New Year's Eve to sing and collect such gifts.