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In England, and countries where the Anglican church has predominated, the Tuesday before Lent is known as 'Shrove Tuesday' from the word 'shrive' (to confess), which is what people traditionally did prior to Ash Wednesday. It is also known as 'Pancake day' when we traditionally indulge ourselves on things which were once forbidden during Lent.

Across Europe the day has various names mostly all tending to mean 'Fat Tuesday', such as 'Mardi Gras'. In the Catholic and originally French parts of the United States it is called 'Mardi Gras'.

But what is Fat Tuesday called across the vast swathe of protestant USA?

By the way it is next Tuesday, 3rd March - one of its latest possible dates - since Easter is so late this year.

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  • “Protestant parts of the U.S.”? Huh? Never heard of such a thing. It necessarily raises the question of what those are, and where those are, and in particular, where those are not — meaning where the non-protestant portions are. It sounds very strange to the American ear even to phrase it as a question.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 12:22
  • @tchrist I suspect Protestant enclaves would beg to differ with you. Plus ya better watch out in some sections of Boston :-) . In most of the USA, it's Mardi Gras, and an excuse for a drunken revelry -- different pageantry but same behavioral patterns as St. Paddy's Day.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 12:59
  • @tchrist - Well, there are some places (such as New Orleans) where the culture is predominantly Catholic. Such places may become more and more numerous, if our Hispanic minority continues to expand as it is projected to.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 15:01
  • @tchrist What exactly is it that is strange to the American ear? Had I said 'across the vast swathe of Bible America', would that have made more sense?
    – WS2
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 19:41

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In New Orleans it is called Fat Tuesday ("Mardi Gras" is a whole month there, ending on Fat Tuesday). Other cities that celebrate Mardi Gras (Biloxi?) probably also call it that.

Elsewhere, as far as I can tell, the Tuesday before Lent isn't really an important day, and doesn't have a special name. Few people in the USA do anything special for Lent, so the day before it starts isn't really any big deal.

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  • Well, to echo tchrist's comment above, there most certainly are Catholic enclaves where people do the ash-forehead thing.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 13:00
  • Oh, I do the ash-forehead thing (Methodist here). Don't get me wrong, this is a very religious country, particularly when compared with most of Europe. However, giving up meat (fish not counting as meat) for Lent is just not part of the culture here. So the day before ash Wednesday isn't really an occasion to do anything special.
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 13:21
  • @T.E.D. I know a great many Catholics who give up meat on Fridays in Lent, but not for all of Lent— even ones who are not devout; it is a cultural observation rather than a religious one for those I call CAPE Catholics for the 4 times a year they go to Mass (Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Easter). But in the Mountain West or the Bible Belt there won't be too many of those, either.
    – choster
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 16:32
  • @choster - When I was living in the NE, I had a couple of Catholic friends that did that. Interestingly, I've noticed a lot of seafood places ratchet up their marketing during Lent as well, but they don't mention the religious angle at all. So its a very easy thing for a non-Catholic to miss. Outside of the northeast though, few places have a significant Catholic presence (again, Hispanic immigration is changing this fast).
    – T.E.D.
    Commented Feb 25, 2014 at 16:39
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From Southern California: it's not really called anything. If we refer to it at all, it's usually Mardi Gras, or (maybe) Fat Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday might be understood but not generally used.

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