SL Rockfish

And that is why HR departments love it.

Here's some vocabulary you'll hear a lot.

Let's quickly break down a few key words.

Tacky.

You can say, ooh, that looks tacky.

Tacky means something that looks cheap or badly designed.

When it's ugly sweater day, the tackier, the better.

How about over the top?

If something's over the top, it's too much.

It's excessive.

ironically.

We use ironically as a joke, not seriously.

Ironically, see, as a joke.

Festive is connected to celebrations or holidays.

For example, he wore an over-the-top sweater with blinking lights, ironically, and he still looked festive.

Should you participate in ugly sweater day?

Absolutely.

If you're an ESL learner working in the US and you're invited to Ugly Sweater Day, and I'm not 100% sure if they celebrate it like we do here in the US, but in Canada where it originated, if you're invited either in Canada or here in the US or anywhere in the world, you do not have to participate.

But if you do, it's usually seen as friendly, approachable, team-oriented, and no.

Your sweater does not need to be actually ugly.