Oooh, so they're not English. They're C.-ish. Or possibly regional. Hmmm.

For me, a garland is a long thin thing - whatever it's made from - which is wrapped around trees or windowframes or mantelpieces for seasonal decor.

Edited at 2008-12-12 11:27 pm (UTC)

I wasn't reading your comment closely enough.

"tinsel is the glittery stuff which hangs on strings like glittery plastic strands. Sort of like a very hairy catterpillar only glittery."

The way you describe tinsel - that's a variety of garland, not tinsel in my world, although tinsel is used to make this kind of garland. So you and C. agree at least partially on what tinsel is.

For me, tinsel doesn't by default come pre-strung. It's finely cut strips, about a foot long each, of clingy plastic that can be dripped and dropped over individual limbs of a Christmas tree to make it sort-of look like it has fake icicles on it. Only very, very fake icicles.

Sort of like a very hairy catterpillar only glittery.

This is very close to my (Canadian) family's terminology for what in the UK is called tinsel. We also call it "that shiny stuff".

What in the US is called tinsel was also called tinsel in my family.

Interesting, I'm struggling to find angel hair pictures.

Here's an ornament with it in it, but hard to tell from that exactly how it acts when not in glass.

Do you call it lametta?

In Canada when I was growing up we called the loose strands of shiny stuff that you would hang on the end of a bough icicles, and the long ropes you would twine around your tree tinsel.