There are many things we do on a regular basis that we dont even give a second thought to; but if we did, wed probably marvel at how objectively bizarre they are. These are traditions customs, practices, manners that have been passed down through generations and generations, to the point where nobody thinks to question why it is that pretty much everyone does these random, pointless things. Like a historical game of telephone, these commonplace traditions made sense when they were first conceived, but, through the years, became more and more distorted until only a version of the action, without the actual significance, remained. Fast-forward to today, where we have a whole world of humans with some pretty strange habits and with little knowledge of the odd and borderline sinister ways that they came to be known to us. For those of us of a more inquisitive sort, and for those extraterrestrials looking desperately to understand the peculiar tics of the human race, look no further for the answer.
10. Best Men At Weddings
The Tradition Today: The typical wedding is more or less a patchwork of some of the most peculiar and seemingly meaningless traditions that we still practice today, some that border on the unnecessary/insane interspersed with a few that at least make sense. Appointing a best man, for example, is done to assist the groom on the wedding day in some way or another. Pretty straightforward and harmless, right? Where It Came From: Wrong, as it so happens. Back in the primitive days of marriage by capture, the best man was selected because, as the name suggests, he was the best... at kidnapping women from neighbouring communities to serve as the eligible bachelors bride. It was customary for Germanic Goths (no, not a Scandinavian heavy metal band) of the sixteenth-century United Kingdom to marry local women, but once potential prospects became scarce, they took to pillaging neighbouring townships to find the one, with their best man (or men), since kidnapping is hardly a one-man job quite the stag party, one might say.
Canadian student. Spends probably an unhealthy amount of time enthusing over musicals, unpopular TV shows, and Harry Potter. Main life goal: to become fluent in Elvish.
