I wrote this one a few years back, when a friend of mine who was giving a Christmas party asked me to come up with some party games. Here are the titles of fifteen familiar Christmas carols, which have been obfuscated with a plethora of highfalutin language. See if you can decipher them.
1. Palestinian municipality of unimpressive size
2. Seraphic beings originating from a celestial location
3. I espied a trio of sea-going vessels
4. Somewhere sort of far off, in a feedbox
5. Spruce up the gathering place with bunches of seasonal greenery
6. Depart, and proclaim the news from an elevated location
7. May the Supreme Deity maintain you in a state of jollity, fellas
8. It took place at 12:00 under a very starry sky
9. Unbounded happiness to the inhabitants of this planet
10. Complete absence of nocturnal noise
11. I speculate in astonishment, even as I perambulate aimlessly
12. On a particular occasion in a certain village associated with a prominent Hebrew monarch
13. The time from December 25 to January 6
14. Seasonal musical composition for hollow metal objects, typically having the shape of an inverted cup widening at the lip, that sound a clear musical note when struck, typically by means of a clapper inside
15. Seasonal musical composition for percussion instruments, typically cylindrical, barrel-shaped, or bowl-shaped, with a taut membrane over one or both ends, sounded by being struck with hands, sticks, or mallets
REBUS added by CtH:
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ANSWERS: 1. O Little Town of Bethlehem; 2. Angels from the Realms of Glory; 3. I Saw Three Ships; 4. Away in a Manger; 5. Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly; 6. Go, Tell It on the Mountain; 7. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen; 8. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; 9. Joy to the World; 10. Silent Night; 11. I Wonder as I Wander; 12. Once in Royal David’s City; 13. The Twelve Days of Christmas; 14. Carol of the Bells; 15. Carol of the Drums
SCORING
12 – 15 correct: Pretty good, but don’t get a big head; it was an easy quiz
8 – 11 correct: You need to go Christmas caroling more often
4 – 7 correct: I suspect you just don’t like music
fewer than 4 correct: Is your name Ebenezer?
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ANSWER: CAST (of Christmas play) + ROCK (ing Santa) + RING (of evergreen) – CAR – R = STOCKING
SCORING: Don’t worry about it. I didn’t get it either.
polination.wordpress.com 
I love the “carol” ones LOL … well done, Bob. See, your college years weren’t totally wasted, right? ::snort::
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Haha! In creative writing class they taught us to write clearly, lucidly, and without obfuscation or pomposity. I had to ignore all that training to write this quiz!
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LOL and you did it so well, too. Hmmm.
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My brother (whose motto is “Eschew Obfuscation”) and I used to do this for fun — inventing ridiculously sesquipedalian and circumlocutory ways of expressing things that in reality are very simple. It’s an esoteric form of entertainment, but we logophiles enjoy it.
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Here’s one I just made up…
“Refrain shouting praise to God”
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Obfuscated hint: It can also be performed without singing…
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Answer
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Good one! I like this version too.
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The Alaska one is my fave too.
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😀
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