Collation: Wacky Word Wednesday

Don’t have time for gym? Want to watch your weight without going on a painful diet? Today’s Wacky Word Wednesday talks about an easy and healthy way to stay in shape when you simply don’t have time – or are too lazy to work out.

Collation [kuh-ley-shuhn] –noun A light meal permitted on fast days; any light informal meal.

Today’s Wacky Word is derived from Old French and Latin collatio, meaning “aggregation, battle, subsidy.” With origins in the Roman Catholic Church, collation first appeared in John Cassian’s Collationes Patrum in Scetica Eremo Commorantium, from which a reading would be given in Benedictine communities prior to a light meal. The word also commonly acts as the noun form of “collate,” which means “to gather or arrange in their proper sequence.”

Today, collation is served differently in various places. British people usually serve cold collation when there is not enough time to entertain their guests with hot, freshly cooked food. In many synagogues, however, the collation is served on Friday nights as a Jewish tradition.

If you want a beach-ready body for the summer but do not have the time to work out, eating small and simple snacks throughout the day might be a great option. While going on a full fasting diet is often unhealthy, having collations of fruits, nuts, granola, couscous, or vegetables during the day can fill you up just as much as three meals. With the right recipes, small collations can provide the sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals one needs in a day.

Here are two examples of how to use collations in a sentence.

• Reared during the time when one square meal and two collations was the order of the day for Lent, giving up something like sweets is a minor detail. (Oxford Dictionaries)

• Tea, that uniquely English meal, that unnecessary collation at which no stimulants—neither alcohol nor meat—are served, that comforting repast of which to partake is as good as a second childhood. (Angela Carter)

Hopefully you can become a healthier eater by picking up some healthy diet tips from today’s Wacky Word Wednesday.

For more related articles, check out our LinkedIn article How to Avoid Office Belly , and other articles What to Eat When Eating Five or Six Small Meals a Day, and 18 Low Calorie Mini Meals, Dr. Oz’s 6-Meal Plan

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