The year is 2022. Christmas is around the corner, decorations are everywhere, and there are some people out there who are just discovering that nutcrackers actually have a purpose.
It's true. Admittedly Christmas foods and traditions have changed somewhat over the years, so there's a good possibility you might never have seen a nutcracker actually being used, but TikToker Dave Winford and I are here to tell you they're not just another decoration.
Typically shaped like little wooden people, nutcrackers can often be found on mantlepieces and windowsills among the tinsel and twinkly lights.
The more curious of you might have played with the figures and realised that they often come with levers on the back, which can be moved to open their mouths.
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Moving the lever can actually open the mouth quite a startling amount, leaving the nutcrackers with a giant, gaping hole between their teeth, but still not everyone realised what that feature was actually originally designed for.
Maybe you mistook the nutcrackers for puppets, with their mouths intended to move to make them 'talk', but TikToker Winford, who goes by dave.winford on the platform, has now revealed the truth.
In a video shared with his 6,000 followers, the TikToker posted a video of a nutcracker and wrote: "I was today years old when I found out Nutcrackers crack nuts."
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One Twitter user has revealed that their cousin was among those who had no idea about the intended purpose of a nutcracker, writing: "My favourite thing to do at Christmas is remind my cousin that as a grown-a** married man, he didn’t know that Nutcrackers actually cracked nuts. “I thought they were just toy soldiers! I figured Nutcracker was their rank or something.” Merry Christmas."
Others have shared their own experiences with the realisation, with one writing: "“You’re telling me that nutcrackers can actually crack nuts?” - Me, Thanksgiving 2022."
Given that they're literally called 'nutcrackers', people really shouldn't be that surprised to learn about their original purpose, but it's true.
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Nutcrackers were originally designed to have a nut, such as a walnut, placed in their mouth before the lever is used to add pressure and crack the nut open, leaving you with a nice de-shelled treat ready to enjoy.
If you ask me, the most confusing thing about the nutcracker is the fact that they're relegated to Christmas, despite having a year-round purpose, but who am I to challenge tradition?
Nowadays you can get nutcrackers in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and many of them are simply decorative rather than actually being designed to crack nuts. However, the inspiration behind them remains the same.
Obviously the use of a nutcracker isn't quite as simple as ripping open a bag of ready-to-eat nuts, but it definitely adds a bit more theatre to the whole event.
Emily Brown