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It is 28 Degrees (F) and snowing in Seattle, while Miami enjoys a midday temperature of 81. Do we have a correspondent in Miami?
Despite the fact that the Feast of the Epiphany is not until Tuesday next, my sweet bride insists that today is the day to "undecorate" the tree. This is because the Boy Scouts have a tree-cycling station set up at the grocery store nearby where they will cart away -- and grind into mulch -- the ridiculously-expensive tree which has graced the living room these past weeks. Sacred tradition requires that the tree remain "up" until Epiphany; sacred tradition sometimes has to be bend to accommodate local (and familial) exigencies.
I responded, deflecting the full force of her edict, that "undecorate" is not a word. She asked, "If not, then how does one described, in a single word, the process of removing decorations from a Christmas tree?"
I tried on denude -- sounds too much like removing the needles from the Noble Fir.
I tried on disassemble -- sounds too much like taking the branches off.
Is there a single English verb which describes the process of removing the ornaments, chains, balls and tinsel from a Christmas tree?
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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dedecorate untrim detrim put the stuff away... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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dedecorate = to bring to shame or to disgrace.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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oy! I've been dedecorated! [hangs head in shame]
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Father Steve: When I lived on Cape Cod, beach areas
subject to wind erosion benefited from a windbreak made of
old Christmas trees tied together.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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There's always deciduate..
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Carpal Tunnel
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When I lived in Monterey, California, there was an annual bonfire of Christmas trees on the beach at Carmel ... but somebody put a stop to it, doubtless in the name of some environmental concern or other.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Faldage suggests: "There's always deciduate.."
Deciduate has two meanings, neither of which seem to reach the subject here. It could mean to lose one's leaves, as when a tree sheds its leaves in the fall. Or it could mean the shedding of uterine tissue at birth, which humans do, but not in connection with taking the tinsel off their trees ... usually.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Stripping...
... with the appropriate music in the background, of course.
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