Thread: "Trick or Treat" saying

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Okay obviously here in the States kids say "Trick or Treat" when they come to your house. What do they say in other countries? for example do kids say it in English in Canada? Or is it sometimes said in French? I never gave it much thought before now but I know that traditions and customs get changed to adapt to the new country. Heck maybe in parts of the U.S. they even say something else that is more localized to the area. For me sincei was a kid it was always just ToT.

In Toronto, we always said "trick or treat" or the always charming "trick or treat smell my feet give me something good to eat!" or "Shell out shell out, the witches are out!"

I live in Ottawa now, and I only here "trick or treat". I won't give treats out til the kids yell it at the top of their lungs! I go to too much trouble to decorate my home and yard to have no participation back from the kids.

As mentioned in the other thread, here on the prairies of Canada we mainly said "Trick or Treat" but you sometimes heard "Halloween Apples" which sounds like it's pretty regional. I think every once in a while we get a "Happy Halloween" but those kids have just been raised wrong. And here in Canada, we give out freshly cooked bacon instead of candy. (Ok, I might be lying about that last bit.)

Here in the UK, particularly in Scotland (my dad's family is Scottish) it used to be common for the kids to have to do "a turn" before they got any treats. This could be something like singing a song, reciting a poem, performing a dance, something like that. I remember as a teenager never having heard of this and going to the house of one old couple who insisted we do "a turn" before they gave us any treats. We did do something in the end, can't remember what it was, but when I told my dad about it he said that it used to be normal in Scotland for ToT to work this way.

Here in small town BC, Canada we used to say "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something sweet to eat. Not
too big, not too small, just the size of Montreal". Now kids just say "Trick or Treat". If they don't, I make them sing
"great green gobs" or something. (I usually have the words printed out so they can't say they don't know the song!)

Yes technically they're supposed to say trick or treat here but sadly alot of kids don't. I think kids in general don't have as much respct as they used to. That is why they don't say trick or treat OR thank you, but we must keep passing out candy and keeping up "the good fight".

Originally Posted by hauntedgraveyard

..or "Shell out shell out, the witches are out!"

BTW, never heard this before, but it's awesome!

Originally Posted by GobbyGruesome

And here in Canada, we give out freshly cooked bacon instead of candy.

!!!

Originally Posted by GobbyGruesome

(Ok, I might be lying about that last bit.)

Oh

Here on the Canadian prairies the kids say Trick or Treat. Beware the child that comes to our house and just rings the doorbell! We make those kids earn their treats by counting backward skipping all the odd numbers or spelling their name backwards. We've had some pretty funny reactions to this over the years, but it's pretty hard to say no to a six foot witch (me) and a super sized Gandalf (hubby).
We grew up dragging around white pillow cases jammed with candy yelling "Halloween Apples" at every door, it would never have occurred to us to ring the doorbell.

Originally Posted by The Auditor

Oh

Ok, for YOU we make special!