What is Denmark's New Year's Eve custom of throwing old plates at friends' doors called?

Denmark's New Year's Eve custom of throwing old plates at friends' doors is called plate smashing.

People traditionally save unwanted crockery and throw it against the doors of friends or neighbors on New Year's Eve. A pile of broken plates is interpreted as a sign that the household has many loyal friends who came to celebrate. The custom turns discarded tableware into a playful social message rather than treating the breakage as bad luck.

Danish New Year's celebrations also include champagne, a special dinner, fireworks, and the midnight broadcast of the monarch's New Year speech. The plate custom is often reported as an old national tradition, but the form and popularity of the practice vary between families and periods. It should not be confused with the Danish custom of jumping from a chair at midnight, which symbolizes leaping into the new year. Both are playful rituals, but they are separate traditions.