An Australian woman has sparked a heated debate over a birthday tradition she believes is becoming increasingly rare, with her friend admitting she had “never” seen it before.
The woman shared her confusion in a post on Reddit after realising her friend did not know about what the woman thinks is a popular Australian birthday tradition.
She explained how Australians clap once for each year the birthday person is turning, ending with one for “good luck”.
“At every birthday party I’ve ever been to, after the ‘hip hip hoorays’, there’s a part where everyone (or sometimes just one person) claps once for every year the birthday person has lived, followed by ‘one for good luck’,” the woman wrote.
“For example, for an 8-year-old’s party, you would clap 8 times for the age, then the orchestrator of the claps would yell, ‘and one for good luck!’ and a 9th clap would follow.”
“This isn’t just a thing my family does. I’ve also seen it with family friends’ birthdays and at classmates’ parties as a kid.”
She said her friend told her she had never been to a birthday party where this tradition had happened, leaving the woman in complete shock.
“My friend insists that she’s never been to a party where they’ve clapped, and tells me I must be mixing it up with the hip hip hoorays,” she wrote.
“I know I’m not mistaken. This is a thing that people do, but she doesn’t believe me, and I can’t find any discussion of it online.
“The thing is, some of the parties I’m talking about were ones where she was also in attendance, so now I’m really confused.
“Someone, please tell me they’ve also experienced the claps. I can’t be the only one.”
Commenters were divided over whether the tradition is uniquely Australian.
“I can’t believe how many people here have never heard of it. I’ve lived in SA, VIC, WA, and have family in Queensland and have heard it all over Australia,” one person wrote.
“So I’ve been living in North America for a long time now. Canada and the U.S., and over here, the birthday song just ends,” wrote another.
“No hip-hip and nothing else. It’s weird.”
Other commenters said they used to do it when they were younger, suggesting the tradition may be fading away.
“It was something I grew up with, but I’d forgotten about it until you mentioned it,” one person commented.
“It’s not something I’ve seen done at any of the current generation of kids’ parties, with the caveat that I don’t attend many kids’ parties these days.”
Other commenters admitted they had never come across the tradition.
“Sixty-five-year-old here, Australian, I’ve never once seen anyone clapping as you described,” the person commented.
“Sing the song, say ‘hip hip hooray’ (usually 3 times), a general clapping, and maybe the “Why was she born so beautiful?” but never any age-related counted-out claps.”
“Definitely never heard of that before. We might do a round of applause when the candles are blown out, but clapping for each year is something I’ve never witnessed,” another person wrote.
One person said it was not just clapping that was uniquely Australian.
“As for the hip hip hoorays… As a 20-year-old, I went to the US for work, and I assumed that was universal,” one person commented.
“So much so that I always kicked off the biggest ‘hip hip’ to start. Imagine my surprise that after singing and me shouting the biggest ‘hip hip’, everyone was absolutely silent.”