# Brits say "Happy Christmas?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 25, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666 "2008-12-25T19:01:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/1 "2008-12-25T19:01:50Z")
I was listening to a version of the song “Do They Know It’s Christmastime At All” yesterday where, over the music, the artists introduced themselves individually and all wished listeners a “Happy Christmas”. So, British Dopers … do you really say “Happy Christmas!” instead of “Merry Christmas!”? Why are Christmas greetings different? What about Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand? Do British Jews with each other a “Merry Hanukkah” just to make things more confusing? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/2 "2008-12-25T20:33:44Z")
Brit here. I have heard Happy Christmas occasionally but Merry Christmas is by far the most common. It’s Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/3 "2008-12-25T20:39:06Z")
You say “Merry” Christmas and “Happy” New Year because it would be awkward to repeat “Happy”. You can also say "Happy Christmas and a prosperous new year"or other variations. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/4 "2008-12-25T20:55:57Z")
“Merry Christmas” is _way_ more common in speech, and often combined with “Happy New Year”. To go off topic a bit, “Hogmanay” is what Scottish people have on the evening of the 31st December, but to be honest it doesn’t come up very often in everyday speech - it’s pretty much “New Year” or “the Bells” depending on what is being discussed. For example, “What are you doing at New Year?” encompasses a couple of days worth of visiting and eating (possibly a small drink _might_ be taken), but “What are you doing for the Bells?\*” means specifically where are you going to be and who are you going to be battering the gums into at midnight. - wi’uryeda’infurraBells. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/5 "2008-12-25T21:13:37Z")
The Queen just wished us all a “Happy Christmas”. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/6 "2008-12-25T23:02:36Z")
“Happy Christmas” is the usual greeting in Ireland, in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/7 "2008-12-25T23:49:10Z")
I’ve heard both “Merry” and “Happy” Christmas here in Australia and in NZ, but never “Happy Holidays”. ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/8 "2008-12-26T01:00:44Z")
Stateside, “happy Christmas” is so rare, it’s usually intended to be ironically funny. To those who have said its rare in the UK, is it the same there? ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/9 "2008-12-26T02:31:19Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > “Happy Christmas” is the usual greeting in Ireland, in my experience. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/10 "2008-12-26T05:52:18Z")
This is definitely a recent phenomenon. I grew up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s (East Anglia and the Midlands) and it was always Happy Christmas. Santa was called Father Christmas as well. On occasion we would say “Merry Christmas,” and our Brit friends would look at us funny. I suspect with more and more US television, and the shrinking global village, etc. etc. it’s changed. Makes me a little sad. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/11 "2008-12-26T06:03:37Z")
> [@Struan](#): > > “Merry Christmas” is _way_ more common in speech, and often combined with “Happy New Year”. Really? On greeting cards, sure, but on what occasion would you actually _say_ “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”? Certainly not on Christmas morning. I just read through a greetings thread (entitled “Happy Christmas”) on the Irish geocaching forum, and noticed something odd from the (admittedly small) sample: all the northern Ireland cachers said “Merry Christmas” and all the cachers from the Republic (with one exception) said “Happy Christmas”. I had never noticed this distinction before. [http://forums.geocachingireland.com/viewtopic.php?t=2187](http://forums.geocachingireland.com/viewtopic.php?t=2187) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/12 "2008-12-26T11:06:02Z")
> [@WoodenTaco](#): > > Stateside, “happy Christmas” is so rare, it’s usually intended to be ironically funny. To those who have said its rare in the UK, is it the same there? Umm, no. Can’t see why it would be? I find this question odd because I find the idea that ‘Happy Christmas is odd’ odd. If you see what I mean. ‘Merry’ and ‘Happy’ Christmas are interchangeable as far as I’m concerned. Why does Happy Christmas sound so weird to USers? How’s it any different from ‘Happy Birthday’? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/13 "2008-12-26T11:21:49Z")
What about “glad New Year?” I read this in a poem from Carroll heading off a Barnes and Nobels Alice collection, is that a (presumably old) Britishism or just so the meter didn’t get thrown off? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/14 "2008-12-26T11:23:26Z")
I’ve been in London for a week (and for the last two Christmases) and I can report that “Happy Christmas” is so common that the rare “Merry Christmas” makes me wonder if I’ve been outed as an American. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/15 "2008-12-26T12:23:58Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > What about “glad New Year?” I read this in a poem from Carroll heading off a Barnes and Nobels Alice collection, is that a (presumably old) Britishism or just so the meter didn’t get thrown off? Certainly isn’t used now. If it is a(n old) English phrase, it belongs purely in the dimly romantic Victorian past. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/16 "2008-12-26T14:39:12Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > This is definitely a recent phenomenon. I grew up in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s (East Anglia and the Midlands) and it was always Happy Christmas. Santa was called Father Christmas as well. > > On occasion we would say “Merry Christmas,” and our Brit friends would look at us funny. I suspect with more and more US television, and the shrinking global village, etc. etc. it’s changed. Makes me a little sad. Although it’ll be impossible to confirm or otherwise with any certainty in a discussion such as this, I wonder what regional variations there are within England over this, as I too would say that ‘Happy Christmas’ is (still) by far the more common here in Suffolk. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/17 "2008-12-26T15:50:08Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Although it’ll be impossible to confirm or otherwise with any certainty in a discussion such as this, I wonder what regional variations there are within England over this, as I too would say that ‘Happy Christmas’ is (still) by far the more common here in Suffolk. “Happy Christmas” is what I would say. The problem is that “merry” doesn’t get used much as an adjective on its own, at least not as a synonym for “happy”. Say “merry” in a word association test and probably everyone would reply “Christmas”. As a result, “Merry Christmas” always sounds a little formulaic, as if someone’s just parroting a slogan. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/18 "2008-12-26T16:30:08Z")
> [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](#): > > As a result, “Merry Christmas” always sounds a little formulaic, as if someone’s just parroting a slogan. Very good point, I agree entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/19 "2008-12-26T17:31:38Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > ‘Merry’ and ‘Happy’ Christmas are interchangeable as far as I’m concerned. Why does Happy Christmas sound so weird to USers? How’s it any different from ‘Happy Birthday’? So, “Merry Birthday” wouldn’t sound off to your ears? Calling “Merry Christmas” slogan-like works. It’s the standard over here, and having someone swap out merry for happy is unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666/20 "2008-12-26T20:34:13Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > “Happy Christmas” is the usual greeting in Ireland, in my experience. I concur. Saying Merry Christmas to someone seems corny. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-say-happy-christmas/478666.md?page=2)