![]() In this usage, merry means “causing happiness pleasant delightful.” Happy Christmas can be traced back to at least the mid-1600s. The phrase Merry Christmas has been recorded since at least 1534, when it was used in a letter by bishop John Fisher. Merry Christmas is more common in American English, while Happy Christmas enjoys greater popularity in British English. What’s the difference between having a happy Christmas and having a merry one? Location, mostly. Here are some alternative ways to say Merry Christmas that will add a little extra magic to your holiday season. But when you’re working on those holiday cards and virtual party invitations, you might find yourself searching for another way to say this classic phrase. Whether it’s from the clerk at the grocery store or during your favorite cheesy holiday romance movie, the greeting is among the oldest and most common ways to wish people a happy holiday season. The West and Northeast, which are generally more liberal, prefer “Happy Holidays" to “Merry Christmas." The Midwest, not the conservative South, leads the way for “Merry Christmas" (the region is roughly evenly split).In December, it’s hard to go a single day without hearing the phrase Merry Christmas. In a 2016 analysis, FiveThirtyEight, using data from the Public Religion Research Institute, found significant regional differences in US. By 2017, less than a third (32%) preferred “Merry Christmas," and more than half (52%) said it didn’t matter which greeting stores used. Those figures began to diverge over the next decade. And, following Trump’s election victory in 2016, his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski declared, “You can say ‘Merry Christmas’ again, because Donald Trump is now the president." But is the Allegation True?Īccording to a report by the Atlantic, in 2005, roughly equal shares of Americans told Pew Research that they wanted stores to say “Merry Christmas" and that they didn’t care what stores said (with another 12% preferring “Happy holidays" or “Season’s greetings"). So, the general meaning of the term Merry Christmas is for people to be joyful and good cheer to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. “If I become President, we will say ‘Merry Christmas’ in every shop," he promised in 2015. May the glorious message of peace and love fill you with joy during this wonderful season. Christmas is a season of great joy: a time for remembering the past and hoping for the future. One of the key elements of former US president Donald Trump’s ‘Christmas war’ was the alleged unwillingness to say “Merry Christmas," as the phrase (according to him) has been replaced by more inclusive but less explicitly Christian phrases. May you have a Christmas that is more special than it has ever been. There have been claims that progressive groups were pushing a more neutral and secular greeting of “Happy Holidays" as part of a larger conspiracy to devalue Christmas. Merry here is an adjective that means cheerful and lively. ![]() ‘Merry Christmas’ has recently also been a part of cultural debates in the United States. Merry Christmas is easily one of the most common (if not the most common) Christmas greetings. Historians believe it could be as simple as a grammatical lesson. The phrase was also printed on the first commercially available Christmas card that year. With the publication of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in 1843, the phrase “Merry Christmas" gained traction. The popular phrase is also used in the English carol “We Wish You a Merry Christmas," which was introduced in the 1500s. A letter from bishop John Fisher to Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, confirms this, the report says. The phrase “Merry Christmas" has been in use since at least 1534. : everyone Merry Christmas to one and all. Others took notice when the royal family made “Happy Christmas" their preferred greeting, the report explains, adding that Queen Elizabeth used to wish her subjects a “Happy Christmas" rather than a “Merry Christmas" each year. This is thought to be because “happy" became associated with a higher social class than “merry," which was associated with the rowdiness of the lower classes. “Happy Christmas" has not completely faded-it is still widely used in England, a report by Countryliving states. Tiger Woods Ex-girlfriend Accuses Him of Sexual Harassment: Revisiting the Golfer's Cheating Scandalīefore we tell you why the phrase may have come about, it’s important to clarify that saying Happy is not wrong.
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