student asking question

What's the difference between "tradition" and "custom"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question. Both words relate to actions that are done repeatedly. A tradition is something that is passed from person to person or generation to generation, for a long period of time. Traditions can include what most people in a country do on holidays. Customs, while also usual ways of behaving, are usually not as old as traditions, and they are practiced or known by fewer people. When a custom continues from generation to generation, it becomes a tradition. Ex: It is a tradition to have a turkey at Thanksgiving in the United States. Ex: It is a custom in many offices to shake people’s hands when you first meet them. Ex: A: For fifty years, my grandparents had a custom of swimming in the lake on the first day of summer. Now my aunts, uncles, parents, and cousins do it, too. B: Oh it is your family tradition.

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