The Danish New Year's Eve custom of throwing old plates and dishes at friends' doorsteps is called plate smashing.
In the tradition, people break unwanted crockery and leave the pieces outside the homes of friends or neighbors. A large pile of fragments is interpreted as a sign that the household has many loyal friends. The custom is especially associated with Denmark in popular descriptions of European New Year's celebrations, although practices vary by family and community.
People historically used chipped or unwanted dishes rather than valuable tableware. Modern concerns about broken ceramics, cleanup, injuries, and waste mean that the custom is less universal than travel lists sometimes suggest. Some households and public events use safer symbolic alternatives, while others do not practice it at all.
Plate smashing should not be confused with the separate Danish custom of jumping from a chair or sofa at midnight. That leap symbolizes entering the New Year, whereas broken dishes represent friendship and social ties. Both customs may appear in accounts of Danish New Year's Eve, but they are distinct traditions.