Photo: **Mary**, Flickr
Cheer up, Linus: if you lived in Ukraine, you'd be glad the Great Pumpkin never showed up.
That's because, according to NPR, for centuries women in the former Soviet republic have used pumpkins to send a not-so-subtle message to would-be fiancés: essentially, "no."
A man would visit the home of a woman he wanted to marry. If the woman said yes, the family would break out the vodka. If her answer was no, "the poor guy was silently handed a pumpkin" and turned away.
Really, it's this image of youthful romance being dashed without a word, only the hand-off of an unwieldy gourd, that makes the whole thing sort of priceless. No apologies, no awkward explanations: just take your pumpkin and go home.






