RD.COM Holidays & Observances Christmas. Relevance. We tend to think of Dickens as balding, bearded and avuncular, but when he wrote A Christmas Carol he was young, energetic and crusading – shown by a recently-unearthed portrait of the writer that was painted in 1843. by Day Translations - December 24, 2017. Why? December 22, 2014 Why is it Merry Christmas and not Happy Christmas? Why Do We Say Merry Christmas? We recommend our users to update the browser. If you live in an area with mostly Christians, or if you know someone has a Menorah and not a Christmas tree, you can generally feel safe with a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah.” When we wish people a “Merry Christmas,” let us remember that our hope and joy are not found in having a happy day or a Merry Christmas. Most people specially non-British or English use the word Merry instead of Happy. Many peopl… Merry Christmas! The "Merry Christmas vs. You may hear the phrase “Merry Christmas” around the world, including in England. She is a proud Hufflepuff and member of Team Cap. We've picked out five. The "Merry Christmas vs. Eleanor Doughty reports on The Star and Garter. If someone responds, “Happy Holidays,” ask if the person celebrates Christmas? While “happy” suggests a more general emotional state of joy, “merry” can imply that there’s a bit of raucous revelry afoot. My family's all from Belgium & folks we know through business as well as pleasure all use the term 'Happy' when speaking of Christmas. Share 17. because we say merry christmas and happy new year. (Furthermore, some do not like to say, “Merry Christmas,” so they say, “Happy Holidays,” not realizing that “holiday” is from the Old English word for “holy day.” If they do not like spiritual connotations, they had better not say “Happy Holidays” either!) If that is true Christians are being persecuted every time they cannot force their religious beliefs on others and the minority should all apologize. Queen Elizabeth II is said to prefer "Happy Christmas" for this reason[3]. Probably not, but now we've pointed it out the reason will bug you until you've read the answer. One reason may be the alternative meaning, still current there, of "merry" as "tipsy" or "drunk". In the Irish language it is said as Nollaig Shona Duit. This is why Brits and Americans spell so many words differently. So the word Merry shifted from a verb to an adjective which over time allowed it to be used in the phrase “Merry Christmas”. This is believed to be because "happy" took on a higher class connotation than "merry," which was associated with the rowdiness of the lower classes. We say both "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Christmas"; they are interchangeable. For book lovers who never get the time to read, audiobooks can make a great present. But as soon as Thanksgiving passes, you’re bound to start hearing and seeing it everywhere—on billboards, on decorations, in songs, and, of course, straight from the mouths of well-wishers. In addition, the language was changing and “merry” was falling out of fashion as a word on its own. Although it was in use from the 16th century, it was Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol –published exactly 175 years ago – that really popularised it. The royal family adopted "Happy Christmas" as their preferred greeting, and others took note. Why do we say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Christmas? Personally, I have never used and I will never use “Xmas.” Our hope and joy are found in our Merciful Saviour. Today, we use ” merry” for Christmas the way we use “happy” for any other holiday, but the words themselves technically don’t have the exact same meaning. Personally, 'Merry' reminds me of booze or Robin Hood. Have you ever stopped to wonder why we say 'Merry Christmas' when for every other occasion we use the word 'happy' instead'? Published on December 19, 1843, with the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve, the didactic novella’s legacy further extends to an almost immediate rise in charitable giving, recorded in The Gentleman’s Magazine in 1844: for years afterwards, Maud of Wales, Queen of Norway, sent gifts to London’s crippled children signed ‘With Tiny Tim’s Love’. God bless us, every one! 1. Pin. And this is the most likely reason it would just sound…odd to use the word for any other holiday. However, it is more complex than that. 7 4990 0 . “Merry Christmas” was the phrase of choice in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a work that would have a major influence on the modern English-speaking world’s perception of Christmas. By the same token, ‘Bah! If you know someone is a Christian who is celebrating Christmas you should say to them 'Merry Christmas.' One of Richmond's most recognisable landmarks has been converted into plush apartments. The reason that Non-Christians get offended is because Christians try to say that everyone should say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays or they are being persecuted. “Merry Christmas” is used in the U.S. while “Happy Christmas” is used in the U.K. Merry Christmas! Blithely do we use this phrase as greeting, farewell or exclamation of joy with little thought to the book that made it famous. The debate between the 2 phrases goes back several decades. While the list can go on and on about why we should say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays", here are five reasons why we should. Upon entering the house, visitors are invited to experience the exhibition as either a servant or a guest – see www.dickensmuseum.com for more details. Most people think this is the biggest way to differentiate between “merry” and “happy” is simply that. It’s, to begin with, recorded in 1534 when (an English Catholic Religious Bishop in the 1500s) composed it in a Christmas letter to Thomas Cromwell: “And this our Lord God send you a merry Christmas, and a comfortable, to your heart’s desire.” Answer Save. Merry was also the word of choice for Dickens and in carols, so much so that the pull of merry grew stronger and it even changed the last line of “The Night Before Christmas”, which originally was “Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night.” Because this Victorian era Christmas traditions defined the way we celebrate Christmas, even today, we use ‘merry’ instead of ‘happy Christmas’. Out of courtesy towards all other beliefs, we just say Happy Holidays instead. Humbug!’ entered popular usage, and everyone knows what it means to be called … What started as a dispute forged by religious preference … It stuck around in common phrases like "the more, the merrier," as well as in things like Christmas carols and stories, largely due to the influence of Charles Dickens. And after it, you’re almost certain to hear the word “Christmas.” (Or the words “little Christmas,” in the event of a certain holiday standard.) Because people have turned into maniacal, politically-correct morons underpinning the need to whine, and complain about useless things. It stuck around, though, in phrases like “the more the merrier” and—you guessed it—the now increasingly popular “Merry Christmas.” How well do you know A Christmas Carol and its many adaptations? And before the 18th century, you could hear both “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas.” The most likely reason for this is the fact that, well, “merry” was just a far more popular word back then than it is today. Favourite answer. In the country of Ireland, they say Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas. At the time, the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning remarked that, in it, the author had ‘the dust and mud of humanity about him, notwithstanding those eagle eyes’. Even so, since 1943, it has never been out of print, it’s the most adapted of all Dickens’s works and still embodies the spirit of Christmas goodwill for many. In the 18th and 19thcentury when Christmas began to be more accepted in popular culture. The precise origin of merry Christmas is unclear. i.e. Not in … Those associations are being explored at the moment in a new exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum, London WC1, ‘Food Glorious Food: Dinner with Dickens’, which also looks at food with respect to how it represented the author’s sense of social justice,. Most people know “merry” means roughly the same thing as “happy.” Even so, “merry” is much less common. Humbug!’ entered popular usage, and everyone knows what it means to be called a Scrooge (even if they’ve never read the book) – a miserly grouch who believes that ‘Every idiot who goes about with “Merry Christmas” on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart’. Six months after the book’s publication, the Factories Act decreed that children between the ages of nine and 13 could work only nine hours a day, six days a week maximum, which was considered humane. Likewise, say 'Happy Hanukkah' to a … That’s why you’ll still hear it today in the U.K. In spring 2017, her creative nonfiction piece "Anticipation" was published in Angles literary magazine. Likewise if you wished someone a “Happy Christmas” (unless you live in England, where many people do say “Happy Christmas”). It's Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy St. Paddy's Day, Happy Easter, etc. However, the resilience of the U.K. with this term actually has to do with some of the British upper class. Plus, find out exactly why we celebrate Christmas on December 25. Happy Holidays" debate has been a hot topic for a while now. It had not been seen for 174 years. Sure it potentially could be subjective because what if you have a Jewish person walk into your store, and you say the wrong holiday. Though Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th century AD, the … 8 Answers. 1 decade ago. Although it was in use from the 16th century, it was Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol –published exactly 175 years ago – that really popularised it. 17 Shares. But if you wished someone a “Merry Birthday,” or a “Merry Halloween,” you’d probably get some weird looks! The first Christmas card on record was sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole and used the phrase “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” Think of it this way: “Happy Holidays” includes Christmas as one of those holidays, and “Merry Christmas” leaves out everything other than Christmas. You typically don’t wish someone a “merry birthday” or a “merry new year.” But when it comes to the winter holiday, “ merry Christmas” is the standard Christmas greeting. The first written record of someone using “Merry Christmas” comes from a 1534 letter from a bishop to royal minister Thomas Cromwell. Saying Merry Christmas isn't really all that bad to begin with. It is the religious connection with the birth of Christ. She graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English and has been writing for Reader's Digest since 2017. During the first Christmas radio address, King George V used the word happy instead of merry (you can actually listen to the original recording here, which is pretty cool). History of the phrase "Merry," derived from the Old English myrige, originally meant merely "pleasant" rather than joyous or jolly (as in the phrase "merry month of May"). Author: wfmynews2.com The lost portrait of Dickens, painted by Margaret Gillies during the very same weeks in which he wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. The word “merry” isn’t one we use very often during the months of January through November. Why do people get offended when you say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays? Why do we say MERRY Christmas instead of another word like "happy"? But then, in the 18th century, “merry” started to tip the scales, largely thanks to one man: Charles Dickens. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. While both words have evolved and changed meaning over time (yes—people did once say "Happy Christmas"), people stopped using "merry" as its own individual word during the 18th and 19th centuries. There's nothing at all wrong with Merry Christmas. Blithely do we use this phrase as greeting, farewell or exclamation of joy with little thought to the book that made it famous. Now, of course, because of the popularity of “Merry Christmas”—and how little we say “merry” in other situations—”merry” now calls to mind a celebration that’s cozy, festive, and filled with gift-giving rather than one that’s overly revelrous and rowdy. How do they say merry christmas in ireland? Meghan Jones is a Staff Writer for RD.com who has been writing since before she could write. 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