50 Fun Facts About Prom

'Prom' is short for what kind of dance?

Prom is short for Promenade: a promenade was the ceremonial walk or parade of guests at a formal ball, and the word comes from the French promener, 'to walk'.

An 1894 journal describes an Amherst student invited to an early prom at which women's college?

Smith College, the women's college near Amherst, is the destination in an 1894 Amherst student's journal describing an early prom; proms began at colleges before high schools adopted them.

What form did the typical high school prom take in the early 20th century?

A tea dance in Sunday best was the early 20th-century high school prom: seniors wore their church clothes to an afternoon dance; by the 1920s and 30s it had grown into a class banquet with dancing.

Which First Daughter held her senior prom in the East Room of the White House in 1975?

Susan Ford, daughter of President Gerald Ford, held her Holton-Arms School senior prom in the East Room of the White House on May 31, 1975.

What is the small bouquet a date traditionally gives a girl to wear on her dress or wrist?

The word comes from the French bouquet de corsage, a bouquet worn on the bodice; the boy gets a matching flower for his lapel.

What is the flower a girl traditionally gives her date to wear on his lapel called?

A boutonnière, French for 'buttonhole', is the single flower pinned to the lapel of a jacket; the date's boutonnière is chosen to match the flowers his partner wears.

Which rapper's 2009 rock single 'Prom Queen' led his album Rebirth?

Lil Wayne released 'Prom Queen' in January 2009 as the lead single from Rebirth, his rock-leaning album on which he played guitar himself.

In a 2014 YouGov survey of men who went to prom, what percentage said they were the one who asked?

Of women surveyed, 29 percent said they had done the asking.

What are the extravagant pre-prom family gatherings, with red carpets and live music, called in the US?

Champagne parties or send-offs are the red-carpet family gatherings held at home before the couples leave for prom; the post-prom or afterglow is the separate party held afterwards.

In England, the Year 11 school prom is usually held after which exams?

GCSEs are the exams Year 11 pupils in England sit at age 15 or 16, and the school prom is usually held in June or July once those exams finish.

At Scottish school formals, what do boys usually wear?

Kilts are the usual choice for boys at Scottish school formals: Highland dress outfitters often sell out around prom season, and traditional Scottish country dancing is part of the night.

What is the Polish equivalent of prom, held about a hundred days before final exams, called?

Studniówka takes its name from sto dni, 'a hundred days', the approximate interval between the ball and the matura, Poland's school-leaving exam; students rehearse its opening dance beforehand.

Finnish second-year students learn old ballroom dances such as the mazurka for which February ball?

Vanhojen tanssit means 'the dances of the old ones': once the third-years leave for exam reading leave in February, the second-years become the school's oldest students and mark it with a formal ball.

Which traditional dance opens the Danish prom, known as the galla?

Les Lanciers, a 19th-century quadrille, opens the Danish galla: the seniors dance it first and the younger years join in, with 'galla' referring to the gowns-and-suits dress code.

At Hungary's szalagavató ball, what do students receive to mark the start of graduation preparations?

The name means 'inauguration of ribbons', and many students wear theirs on their jackets until graduation.

In most of the Republic of Ireland, what is a school leavers' dance called?

A Debs, short for debutante ball, is the usual name in the Republic of Ireland for the school leavers' dance, held after sixth-year students finish the Leaving Certificate.

What is the South African equivalent of prom, held in the final year of high school, called?

The Matric Dance is held in matric, South Africa's final school year (Grade 12); it is usually organised by the Grade 11 class, and its cost is often compared to a wedding.

In Belgium, seniors mark their last 100 days of school with pranks and a party known as what?

Chrysostomos is the Flemish name for the seniors' party marking their last hundred days of school; traditional dress includes blue jeans, a black hat and a whistle, plus a spray can for dousing younger pupils.

What is the Philippine high school formal for the two upper year levels commonly called?

JS prom takes its initials from 'junior-senior': it is the formal dance the two upper year levels of a Philippine high school attend together, usually held near the end of the school year.

In Carrie, what is dumped on the title character after she is crowned prom queen?

Pig's blood fills the bucket: Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan slaughter pigs at a farm and rig the ballot so Carrie is crowned queen and drenched on stage.

Who plays Carrie White in the 1976 film?

Sissy Spacek won the role after her husband, the film's art director Jack Fisk, encouraged her to audition; Brian De Palma's film adapts Stephen King's first published novel.

Who did Andie end up with in Pretty in Pink's original ending, which test audiences booed?

Duckie, played by Jon Cryer, got Andie in the original ending; after test audiences booed, the finale was reshot so she chose Blane, with Andrew McCarthy wearing a wig because he had cut his hair for a stage role.

Pretty in Pink takes its title from a song by which band?

The Psychedelic Furs first released 'Pretty in Pink' in 1981 on Talk Talk Talk and re-recorded it for the 1986 soundtrack, which also carried OMD's US number-four hit 'If You Leave'.

In Footloose, why does Ren McCormack challenge the town's dancing ban?

So the school can hold a senior prom is Ren's goal: he petitions the Bomont town council to lift its dance ban, quoting Bible passages that celebrate dancing, but the council votes him down.

Which real town, which had banned dancing since 1898, loosely inspired Footloose?

Elmore City, Oklahoma had banned public dancing since its founding, and the 1980 campaign by its high school seniors to hold a prom inspired Footloose, which renamed the town Bomont.

In Napoleon Dynamite, which song does Napoleon dance to in the routine that wins Pedro the vote?

'Canned Heat' by Jamiroquai is the track: Napoleon learned his moves from a D-Qwon's Dance Grooves video, got the tape from Kip's girlfriend LaFawnduh, and danced it as Pedro's campaign skit.

At which real Idaho high school was Napoleon Dynamite filmed?

Preston High School in Preston, Idaho, Jared Hess's own hometown, was the location; Hess expanded the film from his short Peluca, and Fox Searchlight picked it up at Sundance in 2004.

In She's All That, Zack bets he can turn nerdy Laney Boggs into what within six weeks?

The prom queen is the bet: after being dumped, Zack Siler wagers he can make art student Laney Boggs prom queen within six weeks, and the film topped the US box office on its January 1999 opening weekend.

10 Things I Hate About You is based on which Shakespeare play?

Heath Ledger was cast just three and a half weeks before shooting in Tacoma and Seattle.

Which Frankie Valli song does Patrick sing to win Kat over in 10 Things I Hate About You?

'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' is what Patrick sings from the bleachers with the marching band; Kat repays him by helping him escape detention, then grows suspicious when he pushes her to attend prom.

At the end of Twilight, what does Edward refuse to do when Bella asks him at the prom?

Turn her into a vampire is what Bella asks for at prom; Edward refuses and kisses her neck instead, while Victoria, the mate of the vampire James, watches from the shadows.

What is the name of the end-of-year dance at which Cady is elected queen in Mean Girls?

The Spring Fling is the dance where Cady Heron is crowned queen; she snaps the plastic tiara into pieces and hands them out to Regina, Gretchen, Karen, Janis and others in the crowd.

In Never Been Kissed, why does 25-year-old Josie Geller go back to high school?

She is a reporter working undercover: Josie, a Chicago Sun-Times copy editor, is sent to pose as a student for a story, and flashbacks reveal her own prom night when date Billy Prince showed up with another girl.

Which scream queen's casting got the 1980 slasher Prom Night its financing?

Jamie Lee Curtis, already the scream queen of Halloween, was cast as Kim Hammond, and having her name attached is what secured financing for the Canadian production of Prom Night.

Why were Prom Night's dance-floor songs written from scratch in five days?

The rights to real hits were too expensive, so composers Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer wrote soundalike disco tracks in five days to match the songs the actors had already danced to on set.

Which Halloween producer suggested Paul Lynch make a horror film built around a holiday, leading to Prom Night?

Lynch's writer instead adapted a revenge story and used a school prom as the unifying setting; it was shot in Toronto in 1979.

Which Broadway musical has four fading actors help an Indiana student banned from taking her girlfriend to prom?

The Prom opened on Broadway in 2018 with Beth Leavel and Brooks Ashmanskas among the self-absorbed actors who descend on Indiana; Ryan Murphy's 2020 Netflix film cast Meryl Streep and James Corden.

Which Mississippi student's 2010 fight to bring her girlfriend to prom inspired the musical The Prom?

Constance McMillen, a senior at Itawamba Agricultural High School, sued with the ACLU after the district cancelled the 2010 prom rather than let her bring her girlfriend; a federal judge ruled her rights had been violated.

Who plays class president Nova Prescott in Disney's 2011 film Prom?

Aimee Teegarden, best known as Julie Taylor on Friday Night Lights, plays Nova Prescott, the class president who rebuilds her school's prom decorations with bad boy Jesse Richter, played by Thomas McDonell.

In Grease, the big Rydell High dance is broadcast live by which fictional TV show?

National Bandstand, hosted by DJ Vince Fontaine, televises the Rydell dance-off; Danny wins with Cha-Cha DiGregorio after Sandy is pushed off the floor, and the T-Birds moon the cameras.

How much did the 2008 remake of Prom Night gross worldwide?

About $57 million worldwide is what the 2008 remake took against a roughly $20 million budget; it opened at number one in the US with Brittany Snow and Idris Elba in the cast.

Which 1999 comedy follows four friends who vow to lose their virginity by prom night?

American Pie (1999) follows Jim, Kevin, Oz and Finch, who make a pact to lose their virginity by prom night; Jason Biggs's Jim ends up with band-camp flautist Michelle.

Why do Russian and Belarusian schools avoid holding proms on 21 or 22 June?

Graduates were drafted in 1941: Soviet schools held their proms on 21 June 1941, and Germany's invasion began the next morning, sending much of that graduating class straight into the war.

What colour ribbon does each senior receive at Slovakia's stužková ball?

Green is the traditional colour: at the stužková slávnosť, held in November or December of the final year, each student, the class teacher and the principal are pinned with a green ribbon.

What is the traditional first dance at Poland's studniówka?

The polonaise, a stately Polish walking dance in triple time, traditionally opens the ball; classes rehearse it for weeks, and the whole year often dances it together in a long procession.

What Romanian word names the balls held each autumn for newly enrolled students?

Boboci, literally 'buds' or 'goslings', is the Romanian word for freshmen, and the Balul Bobocilor is the informal dance held for newly enrolled students each autumn, often in the school gym.

In Germany, the formal ball held after secondary school ends is named after which exam?

Abitur is the German school-leaving exam, and the Abiball held once results are in is the closest German equivalent of prom, with a formal dinner, speeches and dancing.

Which event planning company staged Paris's 'Solidarity Prom Ball' for over 300 students in June 2013?

Sponsors covered food, venue, limousines and gift bags for free; rap acts Psy4 de la Rime and Alibi Montana performed.

In Egyptian private schools, how long at most does the teacher-attended prom last?

No teachers or parents are allowed at the after-prom, which can run until 4 or 5 am.

At the end of Bangladesh's 'Rag Day', graduating students mark the occasion by doing what?

They wear matching white T-shirts, which end up covered in colours and signatures from classmates.