Do The British Say Happy Christmas

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Do The British Say Happy Christmas

I ve even had muslim friends in the uk send me cards and write merry christmas on my. Moore s i mean not nikolai gogol s ends with the words a happy christmas to all and to all a good night queen elizabeth ii wishes british subjects a.

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Merry christmas began as a saying in the 1500s it was recorded in a letter as a wish that god would send the recipient a mery christmas.

Do the british say happy christmas. Though happy and merry are synonyms they actually have different connotations. It was solidified as a capitalized greeting by charles dickens in his great work a christmas carol. Some language commentators have attributed the british preference for happy christmas to the use of the expression by the royal family in annual christmas broadcasts.

Queen elizabeth ii for whatever reason did not use dickens phrase. What s striking to anyone who has spent time in the uk is that everyone says merry or happy christmas. I speak now from my home and from my heart to you all.

Do you say merry christmas or happy christmas in britain this choice reveals your social class. King george v began the practice in his 1932 christmas radio message written by rudyard kipling. In britain and several commonwealth countries boxing day is the day following christmas and serves as a bank public holiday.

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. Queen elizabeth ii is said to prefer happy christmas for this reason. While the exact etymology of the phrase is unclear it may have been named for the boxes that servants and tradesmen would receive from their employers at christmas.

For starters it s important to note that happy christmas hasn t faded completely it s still widely used in england. Because happy was the royally approved choice it stuck and that s why british still use the term happy christmas instead of merry christmas. In her annual christmas messages to the commonwealth queen elizabeth has used happy christmas far more often than merry christmas.

The night before christmas clement c.

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