Why Do Brits Say Happy Christmas

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Why Do Brits Say Happy Christmas

Happy is an emotional condition while merry implies some specific sort of merrymaking behavior. Queen elizabeth ii is said to prefer happy christmas for this reason.

What S The Real Difference Between Wishing Someone A Merry Christmas Or Saying Happy Christmas Quora

Here are five british christmas words and phrases that are not widely used in the u s.

Why do brits say happy christmas. For starters it s important to note that happy christmas hasn t faded completely it s still widely used in england. I think you will find that happy christmas is what they say in england and much of its commonwealth whereas merry christmas is what we say in america. The brits associate merry with merrymaking or drunkness.

As if getting to grips with a multitude of new christmas customs wasn t already a challenge for brits in america the language of christmas is equally complex. Indeed when i first moved to the united states in the winter of 2008 i became almost immediately the source of light hearted ridicule for wording my festive greetings in a manner i had until that point assumed to be universal. Merry implies a bit more active showing of the happiness or at least some jaunty clicking of the heels that being said merry is a much older word but even when the word happy was born both were used in christmas greetings.

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. Saying merry christmas is saying you approve of getting plastered on christmas which is what bringing that figgy pudding is all about by the way. Just for a laugh.

But by and large in two diverse societies with similar roots americans have opted to try to find neutral sounding holiday greetings while brits have chosen to make. How wrong i was. I used to say happy christmas and a merry new year when i was a kid.

I suspect this is an example of. There is a good explanation here but it boils down to this. I think john lennon was just playing around with words in that song of his.

The phrase happy christmas is a british expression and in other parts of the english speaking world it is merry christmas. But it s not that normal to say happy christmas for us british type folks. In england we say merry christmas and a happy new year but in passing conversation we do say happy christmas but it is seldomly done.

In either case the sentiment is to wish the other person an. Happy christmas is more associated with the emotion of being joyful. In her annual christmas messages to the commonwealth queen elizabeth has used happy christmas far more often than merry christmas.

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