I think it means fat tuesday

I speak Spanish and grasa means fat, and Martes means Tuesday. So, it sounds like a literal translation. Mardi is Tuesday and Gras is fat.

Yup, it is exactly French for "Fat Tuesday."

Which means that you can have your last day of "fat" or other good stuff before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. That's when you are supposed to give up all the good stuff and think about what's coming on Good Friday.

Isn't is weird that some religious celebrations have become secular events!!

And vice-versa agnes. I kinda like the fluidity.

:)

A German word for Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday is Fastnacht, the night before fasting.

Today is my last chance to eat chocolate.

Our community was home for very many German immigrants both in the early days of its settling, and on up past the early 1900s. We had two German language newspapers, and two Catholic Churches. One was called the English Catholic Church and one the German Catholic Church. It's sermons and records were kept in German for a lot of years. In these days of Political correctness :-) they're both known by their actual names, but one can tell by the last names of the members which was which.........still. I'm wandering from the topic............I meant to address fastnacht. It's a term I've heard since I can remember. It's the term my folks always used for those fat, filled pastries, prolly because they were made on fat tuesday to use up lard. The name just stuck in the local vernacular for the pastry.