Customs vs. Traditions
What is Difference between Customs and Traditions? Each society, community and family follows a series of customs and traditions with which they feel so familiar that they come to assume them as theirs. However, these two words “tradition” and “custom”, although sharing certain similarities, should not be used interchangeably. It is important to understand the difference between the one and the other.
Difference between Customs and Traditions
The main difference between Customs and Traditions lies in the amount of time associated with them, that is, when one speaks of traditions and customs, one of the quickest and simplest ways of knowing how to differentiate between the two is by taking into account what so long is the period of time in which they are maintained.
If you want to know the Difference between Customs and Traditions, and then continue reading, we will explain it to you.
Traditions
A tradition is a way of thinking, behaving or doing something that over time the people of a certain society, community or family have done in a similar way. It may be an idea or belief that is passed down from one generation to the next.
It may be rooted in a particular religion or culture. For example, the ceremony of communion and baptism are very important traditions in some Christian religions. In the case of a family tradition, one could take as an example the celebration held on a particular day of the year (in this case it will only be considered as a tradition if the celebration continues over several generations within that family).
Traditions do not include strict rules, regulations or a mandatory character; for this reason you can always change some aspects of them. For example, if we look at the Christmas tradition in the past we noticed that the little trees used to be decorated with foods like apples and nuts; different to how it is done today with lights and figurines.
Customs
On the other hand, a custom is a common practice for many or a particular place or group of people, it can even be something individual. It is a way of behaving or doing something commonly accepted in a specific society, place, context or moment.
Finally, like traditions, customs can have their origin in the family: some gestures, acts or behaviors that are put into practice often become habits. Only when they go through generations do they become traditions. Example: a man who goes to the hairdresser only once and at the end.
