"Friendsgiving" describes a meal, usually potluck-style, shared with friends around the time of Thanksgiving. The custom may be centuries old, but the word only entered Merriam-Webster's dictionary in 2020.
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Friendsgiving is exactly what it sounds like: A gathering close to the date of Thanksgiving, starring many of its starchy staples, usually served potluck-style, with friends instead of relatives. This installment of NPR's Word of the Week series takes a look at where Friendsgiving comes from, why it stuck around and how to celebrate it.
New name, old tradition: The concept of Friendsgiving has long permeated pop culture, from 1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (in which an overburdened Snoopy cooks for the gang after they invite themselves over) to Friends, which went on the air in 1994 and included Thanksgiving plotlines in each of its 10 seasons. Merriam-Webster started tracking "Friendsgiving" in 2007, after it appeared in posts on what was then Twitter and the early message board Usenet. The word's obvious meaning and accessible pronunciation helped it catch on quickly.
How to celebrate: There's not one right way to do it, considering the holiday is made-up and the real thing is just around the corner. The most important thing is to make clear who is responsible for what.
Read on . . . for things both hosts and guests should keep in mind to help make Friendsgiving as easy as pie.
Thanksgiving is always the fourth Thursday of November. But many Americans don't wait that long to share a fall feast with their loved ones — that is, if they celebrate Friendsgiving.
Friendsgiving is exactly what it sounds like: A gathering close to the date of Thanksgiving, starring many of its starchy staples, usually served potluck-style, with friends instead of relatives.
Think fewer dinner-table political debates, less travel time, turkey optional (more on that later).
"There are your friends, and there's Thanksgiving," says Emily Brewster, a senior editor at Merriam-Webster. "It's a great example of a word that is just an excellent candidate for adoption as soon as someone thought of it."
This installment of NPR's Word of the Week series takes a look at where Friendsgiving comes from, why it stuck around and how to celebrate it.
A new name for an old tradition
Of course, people have been celebrating Thanksgiving with friends for centuries.
The concept of Friendsgiving has long permeated pop culture, from 1973's A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (in which an overburdened Snoopy cooks for the gang after they invite themselves over) to Friends, which went on the air in 1994 and included Thanksgiving plotlines in each of its 10 seasons.
But the proper noun only came along relatively recently.
Merriam-Webster started tracking "Friendsgiving" in 2007, after it appeared in posts on what was then Twitter and the early message board Usenet. The word's obvious meaning and accessible pronunciation helped it catch on quickly, Brewster says.
"Friendsgiving" popped up in lifestyle blogs and news articles over the years before hitting it big in 2011. That year, it was both the focus of a Bailey's Irish Cream ad campaign and a major plot point in a Real Housewives of New Jersey episode (titled "Gobblefellas").
"All a word like this really needs is to just have more of a presence in the culture, and then it gets adopted into the language very quickly," Brewster says.
Merriam-Webster added "Friendsgiving" to its dictionary in 2020, 13 years after its first known use. While Brewster wasn't involved in that decision, she says "it was clear that it met our criteria."
"We had been seeing these examples of it for a few years, and … it looked like it wasn't going to go anywhere," Brewster adds.
The made-up holiday has inspired chain restaurant deals and numerous hosting guides, and even counted a sitting president among its participants in 2023. There are no official statistics on how many Americans celebrate Friendsgiving, but online surveys from recent years suggest numbers could be as high as 20%.
Brewster wonders whether we are seeing more Friendsgiving gatherings at least in part because there is now a name for them. It doesn't hurt that it's a catchy "blend word," which she says Americans especially get a kick out of (see: "Barbenheimer" or "Galentine's Day").
"I'm curious … if the existence of the word has somehow generated more of this kind of socializing," she adds. "I think words do have that power, that they can actually influence action."
<em>A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving</em> depicts an early example of Friendsgiving in 1973, well before the term entered the lexicon.
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"Friendsgiving" isn't one-size-fits-all
Lizzie Post, the co-president of the Emily Post Institute, says the etiquette-focused organization started getting questions about Friendsgiving do's and don'ts around the time the word entered the lexicon.
"They were questions along the lines of: 'Is it OK to host Friendsgiving and go to your family Thanksgiving?' 'Can you only do Friendsgiving if your family isn't around and you can't travel to them?' " she explains.
The answer turned out to be a resounding yes. Many of those who celebrate Friendsgiving typically do so in addition to their family Thanksgiving, not instead of it.
"I think Friendsgiving is a nice way to be able to do both," says Emily Stephenson, a cookbook author whose work includes The Friendsgiving Handbook, published in 2019.
Stephenson says she has been hosting Friendsgiving — even though she never called it by that name — for about two decades, starting when she attended college abroad.
"It kind of implies … a younger person who's maybe doing things that's not going to be super traditional," she says. "And I do think part of what's implied in Friendsgiving is maybe it being the first time you host."
To Stephenson, younger generations' embrace of Friendsgiving makes perfect sense, particularly after the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throwing a dinner party can be a rare and special experience, especially for 20-something apartment dwellers who are potentially many years away from hosting a family Thanksgiving.
And there's not one right way to do it, considering the holiday is made-up and the real thing is just around the corner. Stephenson says that hopefully takes some pressure off.
"If you are hosting and a turkey stresses you out, you don't need to make turkey," she adds.
Post says these days, most of the questions the institute gets about Friendsgiving revolve around the etiquette of potlucks. The most important thing, she says, is to make clear who is responsible for what.
"I think that as people, we really value spending time with one another, taking a break from the everyday," Post says. "And whether that means eating off of paper plates … in front of a football game on the couch with a big buffet behind us, or whether that's a formally set table, matters not. It's the gathering that makes the big difference."
Every season of <em>Friends</em> had a Thanksgiving plotline, but the show isn't credited with coining "Friendsgiving." It ended in 2004, three years before Merriam-Webster started tracking the word's usage online.
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Tips for your next Friendsgiving
That said, there are things both hosts and guests should keep in mind to help make Friendsgiving as easy as pie. Here's some of the best advice we got from Post and Stephenson:
For hosts:
Do ask people if they have allergies or dietary restrictions beforehand.
Do keep track of who is bringing what, whether you assign specific dishes or leave guests to fill out a shared spreadsheet. And if someone shows up with something that wasn't on the list, serve it anyway.
Do take responsibility for the main dish — but it doesn't have to be a full turkey. Stephenson suggests preparing a less time-consuming turkey leg or breast, or skipping the bird altogether in favor of something like a shepherd's pie, savory galette or lasagna.
Do make it easier for out-of-town guests by tasking them with store-bought contributions, like drinks, napkins or a premade crudité platter.
Do give guests key details in advance, like what time the meal will actually be served (especially on a weekend) and a dress code if you're planning a more formal event.
Don't be afraid to ask guests to help out. Post recalls that when her mom used to host some two dozen Thanksgiving guests, she would ask people to not only bring a dish but sign up for a job — from setting out place cards to lighting candles to checking who wants ice cream with their pie. "Some people faint when I say this," Post laughs. "But … little tasks like that, when spread out over the whole group, not only make it a little bit even more of a communal experience, but they help ease the burden on the host."
Do try to send guests home with leftovers of the dish they brought. "Just because they've brought it to your house doesn't automatically make it yours," Post says. If they don't want it, transfer it into another container so you can clean their original dish and send it home with them.
For guests:
Do inform the host of any dietary restrictions (if they don't ask), but do so "with an offer to bring something that meets your needs," Post says.
Don't arrive empty-handed. "I don't think there's many rules for being a guest besides … don't make soup," Stephenson says, since it adds another round of dishes to clean.
Do the heavy lifting before you leave the house. Since kitchen space will be limited, it's best to bring a dish that is ready to eat, even if it needs a few minutes in the oven first.
Don't show up expecting leftovers, though of course it's nice if you end up with some.
Do remember to thank your host — verbally is fine, Post says. If your friends are into group activities, you may well get a chance to share what you're thankful for anyway.
Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media during a press conference unveiling his revised 2025-26 budget proposal at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on May 14.
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California will face a nearly $18 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year due to higher-than-expected spending, despite an economic boom, largely driven by AI enthusiasm and strong revenue, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Wednesday. To make things worse, the $17.7 billion shortfall could balloon to an annual $35 billion by fiscal year 2027-28, as spending continues to grow and debts come due, the office warned in its annual fiscal outlook.
Deficit despite growth: The gloomy forecast is a refreshed look at California’s financial future since June, when the state Department of Finance projected a $17.4 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. The widened budget gap could undercut the legacy of Gov. Gavin Newsom, as he will likely be forced to make tough budget choices in his last year as governor. It also means that for the fourth year in a row in his tenure, California is projected to have a deficit despite revenue growth.
The role of the Trump administration: The state is projected to spend $6 billion more than previously anticipated next year, including $1.3 billion implementing Trump’s budget bill, which is expected to kick millions of Californians off Medi-Cal, hike health care premiums and shift much of the cost for programs such as food stamps onto the state, the LAO said. The increase is largely because the state must now shoulder a larger share of the cost to continue to provide benefits, said Carolyn Chu, chief deputy analyst with LAO. California also stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for permanent housing under new policies the Trump administration rolled out last week, just as some counties are starting to see drops in their homeless population.
California will face a nearly $18 billion budget deficit in the new fiscal year due to higher-than-expected spending, despite an economic boom largely driven by AI enthusiasm and strong revenue, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office said Wednesday.
To make things worse, the $17.7 billion shortfall could balloon to an annual $35 billion by fiscal year 2027-28, as spending continues to grow and debts come due, the office warned in its annual fiscal outlook.
The gloomy forecast is a refreshed look at California’s financial future since June, when the state Department of Finance projected a $17.4 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. The widened budget gap could undercut the legacy of Gov. Gavin Newsom, as he will likely be forced to make tough budget choices in his last year as governor.
It also means that for the fourth year in a row in his tenure, California is projected to have a deficit despite revenue growth.
“Today’s fiscal outlook underscores the challenging decisions ahead,” said Assembly budget chair Jesse Gabriel of Encino. He said the committee “remains committed to crafting a responsible budget that prioritizes essential services, uplifts working families and protects our most vulnerable communities.”
But state Sen. Roger Niello of Roseville, the Republican vice chair of the Senate Budget Committee, attributed the structural deficit to Democrats’ “unstoppable spending problems.”
“The state must assess the effectiveness and sustainability of the programs that were created during the surplus and make necessary corrections,” he said in a statement.
Since June, the state has witnessed stronger-than-expected tax revenues, raking in $6 billion more than projected between July and October. But the revenue gains in the new fiscal year will “almost entirely” go toward K-12 schools, community colleges and state reserves by constitutional requirements, the office projected.
Additionally, the fiscal challenges California faces also have persisted, if not deepened, due to steep federal cuts to health care and housing and homelessness services, as well as growing stock market uncertainties driven in part by President Donald Trump’s drastic tariff shifts. It raises a major question as to if, and how, the state can absorb the costs of those federal cuts.
Spending outpacing revenues
The state is projected to spend $6 billion more than previously anticipated next year, including $1.3 billion implementing Trump’s budget bill, which is expected to kick millions of Californians off Medi-Cal, hike health care premiums and shift much of the cost for programs such as food stamps onto the state, the LAO said. The increase is largely because the state must now shoulder a larger share of the cost to continue to provide benefits, said Carolyn Chu, chief deputy analyst with LAO.
The added cost of the federal cuts to health care will grow to $5 billion annually by fiscal year 2029-30, the office projected.
California also stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for permanent housing under new policies the Trump administration rolled out last week, just as some counties are starting to see drops in their homeless population. Homelessness agencies warn that thousands of Californians could be kicked out of their subsidized housing and back on the streets.
The loss of federal funding could put more pressure on the state to step in with financial assistance — at a time when Newsom has expressed no interest in releasing more homelessness dollars to cities and counties.
Blaming local officials for stagnant progress on homelessness, Newsom in January proposed zero dollars for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, the main source of homelessness funding for local governments. The Legislature later successfully negotiated a $500 million investment — half what it used to be — and delayed the funds until next year with virtually no guarantee they will continue.
Graham Knaus, CEO of the California State Association of Counties, told CalMatters he expects the state to follow through on its funding commitment.
“We are now facing a federal government that is eviscerating the same funding at the federal level, so we should expect a substantial increase in homelessness,” he said. “And our only chance is for the state to stand with us … and protect those that are the most vulnerable.”
Fourth fiscal year in a row of deficits
The annual forecast by the nonpartisan fiscal adviser is a mere snapshot of California’s fiscal future and can be drastically different from the state finance department’s own projection, which is expected in January. In January 2024, Newsom’s office projected a $38 billion deficit for fiscal year 2024-25 — roughly half the $68 billion budget shortfall the LAO had projected a month before.
Earlier this year, California’s Democratic leaders scrambled to plug a $12 billion budget hole in fiscal year 2025-26, relying on internal borrowing, dipping into state reserves and halting new Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented immigrants to avoid other deep cuts to social services. They largely blamed Trump for the shortfall, arguing the threat of sweeping tariffs and federal funding loss plunged the state into “deep uncertainty.”
Coffee is among the products facing steep tariffs under the Trump administration.
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But even before Trump retook office, California already faced a structural money problem, in part due to the state’s heavy reliance on wealthy earners’ income tax and capital gains, which rise and fall with the stock market. The state witnessed a record $97.5 billion surplus in 2022 during an economic boom, followed by an estimated $56 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years.
The state for three years used “temporary fixes,” such as internal borrowing, spending down reserves and suspending tax credits to plug multibillion-dollar budget holes, but now it’s “critical” for state lawmakers to reduce spending, raise revenues or both, the legislative analyst warned.
“California’s budget is undeniably less prepared for downturns,” the analysts noted in their report. “Continuing to use temporary tools — like budgetary borrowing — would only defer the problem and, ultimately, leave the state ill‑equipped to respond to a recession or downturn in the stock market.”
How sustainable is the AI-driven economy?
While all signs point to high uncertainty and low consumer confidence in the state economy, tech companies’ investment in AI has propelled the stock market to a “record high” and boosted tech workers’ income — the “lone bright spot” in the state’s economic outlook, Petek said.
But is it sustainable? Petek is cautious.
The stock market appears to be “overly exuberant,” as some investors are borrowing more to buy high-cost stocks, a sign of a stock market downturn, the report notes. Even if the market holds, lawmakers should treat it as a temporary or unsustainable gain, Petek said.
And there’s no guarantee that revenue gains from the stock market would be enough to fill a deficit of $30 billion to $35 billion, which the state is projected to hit in a few years. Since the state is constitutionally required to spend roughly half of any excess revenue gains on schools and reserves, it would need $60 billion in revenue higher than anticipated to close a budget gap that big, Petek said.
“Our view is that that’s highly unlikely to occur,” he said.
Kevin Tidmarsh
is a producer for LAist, covering news and culture. He’s been an audio/web journalist for about a decade.
Published November 19, 2025 2:10 PM
A flu shot is prepped in Lakewood in 2020 for a free flu vaccination clinic.
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Topline:
L.A. County public health officials have said that the individual was an older adult with underlying health conditions and encouraged all eligible residents to get vaccinated against influenza.
How it happened: After investigating the case, the L.A. County Department of Public Health concluded the person had not been vaccinated this season. Officials also underlined the importance of getting vaccinated ahead of the holiday season, when travel and indoor gatherings — and, therefore, the spread of disease — are more common.
What officials are saying: “This tragic death reminds us how serious influenza can be,” L.A. County health officer Muntu Davis said in a statement. “The best protection this season is getting an updated flu vaccine. Protecting yourself also helps keep your community safer.”
Who should get vaccinated? Public health officials recommend everyone over 6 months old should get an updated flu shot, ideally ahead of the holidays. It’s especially important to get vaccinated if you're under 5, over 65 or pregnant, according to guidelines from L.A. County and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those populations are more at risk for severe complications from a flu virus, as are people with diabetes, respiratory issues and heart conditions. Flu vaccines take about two weeks to reach peak effectiveness.
Julia Barajas
explores how college students achieve their goals, whether they’re fresh out of high school, pursuing graduate work or looking to join the labor force through alternative pathways.
Published November 19, 2025 1:09 PM
A proposal aims to extend the system's “Tuition Stability Plan,” which went into effect in 2022.
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The University of California’s Board of Regents on Wednesday is slated to vote on a proposal that could hike tuition rates for incoming students beginning in fall 2027.
Why now: The UC system is facing state budget cuts and major uncertainty over federal funding, as it continues to navigate ongoing conflicts with the Trump administration. UC's president has highlighted fears about potential cuts to the $17 billion in federal funding UC receives each year — including $1.7 billion in financial aid for students.
The proposal: The plan aims to extend UC’s “Tuition Stability Plan,” which went into effect in 2022. Under that plan, annual tuition increases are capped at 5% and tuition is frozen for each incoming class for six years. The proposal on deck contains key differences, including reducing the rate of undergraduate tuition set aside for financial aid, from 45% to 40%, along with a 1% increase to help pay for new or improved campus facilities.
What students say: The University of California Student Association (UCSA), which represents 230,000 undergraduates across nine campuses, opposes the tuition hikes, arguing that many students are already struggling to make ends meet.
The University of California’s Board of Regents on Wednesday is slated to vote on a proposal that could hike tuition rates for incoming students beginning in fall 2027.
In a recent message to students, faculty and staff, UC President James Milliken said the system is grappling with “one of the gravest threats in [its] 157-year history,” highlighting fears about potential cuts to the $17 billion in federal funding it receives each year — including $1.7 billion in financial aid for students.
What's in the proposal?
The proposal aims to extend UC’s “Tuition Stability Plan,” which went into effect in 2022. Under that plan, annual tuition increases are capped at 5% and tuition is frozen for each incoming class for six years.
The proposal on deck contains key differences, including reducing the rate of undergraduate tuition set aside for financial aid, from 45% to 40%, along with a 1% increase to help pay for new or improved campus facilities.
The University of California Student Association (UCSA), which represents 230,000 undergraduates across nine campuses, opposes the tuition hikes, arguing that many students are already struggling to make ends meet.
“We understand that the university is in a really challenging fiscal period . . . [and] will likely renew the proposal,” said Vincent Rasso, the group’s director of government relations.
If the board adopts the plan, he added, members should, at a minimum, oppose reducing the rate of tuition dollars that support student aid. And instead of using tuition to pay for capital improvements, UCSA asks that a portion of that 1% hike be used to fund retention programs and students' basic needs.
The U.S. may be entering another rough winter for flu, according to early data.
Why now: Parts of the Northern Hemisphere, such as the United Kingdom, are being hit hard. That often foreshadows what's in store for the U.S.
Why it matters: "There is basically a new variant of influenza circulating that has mutated a little bit," says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins. "And that means that it's just different enough from what your body or the vaccine may recognize that it can kind of get around those protections."
Read on... for more about this flu season.
The U.S. may be entering another rough winter for flu, according to early data.
"The signs are, it could be a big season," says Richard Webby, who studies the flu at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. "The flu season might have a little bit of a punch to it this year."
The first clue to what may be in store is what influenza did during the Southern Hemisphere's winter. That often predicts what's coming for the Northern Hemisphere.
"They had some pretty decent flu activity in many parts of the Southern Hemisphere," Webby says. "It actually lasted for a longer period of time — the tail of the season went on for longer than typical."
And now, parts of the Northern Hemisphere, such as the United Kingdom, are being hit hard. That often foreshadows what's in store for the U.S.
And H3N2 viruses "tend to be a little bit more problematic," Webby says. "When we have an H3N2 season, we tend to have a little bit more activity, a little bit more disease at the severe end of the spectrum."
The last major flu season dominated by H3N2 was 2016-2017.
In addition, a new H3N2 variant recently evolved and has become the dominant strain in the U.S.
"There is basically a new variant of influenza circulating that has mutated a little bit," says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins. "And that means that it's just different enough from what your body or the vaccine may recognize that it can kind of get around those protections."
And she says the flu shot this year "may not be as good a match as if we hadn't seen this new variant."
That said, data from the U.K. indicates the vaccines still make a difference, Rivers says. In the U.K., the vaccines appear to be about 70% to 75% protective against hospitalization in children and about 30% to 40% protective against hospitalization in adults.
So Rivers and others are urging anyone who hasn't already gotten a flu shot to get one.
"Definitely get it as soon as possible. Because activity is low right now. But it is increasing. And it will continue to increase straight through until we hit peak, which is usually around the holiday season. There's no sense in waiting when we are barreling into flu season," Rivers says.
It takes about two weeks for immunity to kick in. And people don't want to catch or spread the flu over Thanksgiving. The flu kills between roughly 12,000 and 52,000 people in the U.S. every winter.
"I do have concerns that uptake of both the influenza and the annual COVID vaccine won't be as high this year as it had been in previous years," Rivers said. She is concerned by rhetoric coming from federal health officials questioning "whether vaccines are safe and effective."
"We know that they are," she says. "And they are important for protecting against severe illness. So it's really important that people go out and get them this year."
In a written statement to NPR, a Health and Human Services spokesperson said: "It is too early to know what viruses will spread this season, in what proportion, and how well the vaccine will work in the United States."
The statement added: "The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. Individuals should speak to their healthcare provider on the risks and benefits of a vaccine."
