# Does anyone in the USA actually say "happy holidays"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145 "2004-12-22T13:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/1 "2004-12-22T13:31:54Z")
Do you actually use this ridiculous expression or is it another euro-myth designed to make you look a bit mad? If you do - Shame on you. What on earth do you think you are doing? Christmas offends absolutely no one apart from the offenderati and they’re unappeasable. Stop it at once. Happy Christmas. Ho Ho Ho. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/2 "2004-12-22T13:37:04Z")
Um, I say it, because I don’t celebrate Christmas, and it seems sort of patronizing to pretend that I celebrate Christmas in order to keep someone else from feeling uncomfortable, but it seems rude to just say nothing when someone offers me good wishes. This is especially true when dealing with someone else who also doesn’t celebrate Christmas–many of my students are secular, Jewish, or Islamic. On one hand, it seems weird to not make some sort of good wish when we are about to be seperated, but on the other hand, it seems stupid for us to say “Merry Christmas” to each other when no one in the conversation celebrates that holiday–so “Enjoy your holiday break” seems like a nice compromise. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/3 "2004-12-22T13:37:08Z")
I used the phrase not 15 minutes ago. I do a short radio show each week and it seemed the most appropriate wish to send out at the end of the show. What exactly is wrong with a hearfelt expression like “Happy Holidays”? ---
**Author:** ![Mini-Thud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Mini-Thud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mini-Thud)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/4 "2004-12-22T13:37:28Z")
We say happy holidays because then it encompasses everyone… not cause we think it’ll offend people. We want to wish the Jews happy holidays as well. And we say Merry Christmas, not Happy Christmas 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/5 "2004-12-22T13:37:48Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Do you actually use this ridiculous expression or is it another euro-myth designed to make you look a bit mad? > > If you do - Shame on you. What on earth do you think you are doing? Christmas offends absolutely no one apart from the offenderati and they’re unappeasable. > > Stop it at once. > > Happy Christmas. Ho Ho Ho. Everytime I answer the phone at work. They are making us say that this year. I think you might be overreading the phrase though. While it could be that some people say it to keep from offending those people who celebrate Hannaukah or Kwanza or whatever, I have always taken it to mean Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and such, without having to say all of that. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/6 "2004-12-22T13:38:52Z")
> [@Jaade](#): > > Everytime I answer the phone at work. They are making us say that this year. > > I think you might be overreading the phrase though. While it could be that some people say it to keep from offending those people who celebrate Hannaukah or Kwanza or whatever, I have always taken it to mean Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and such, without having to say all of that. How about those who celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/7 "2004-12-22T13:41:41Z")
You have to remember that the winter holiday signs go up around October 15th and don’t go down until January 10, so it really does make sense to put up Happy Holidays - then you get Ramadan, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, New Year, etc. Far easier than having to actually pay attention to the dates and have to put up different signs. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/8 "2004-12-22T13:45:04Z")
In my official capacity as a Retail Monkey, absolutely. Look, I have no idea what these people are going to be celebrating, if they’re going to be celebrating at all. And most people celebrate multiple holidays in late December/early January, and I don’t feel like saying “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” to everyone, so I stick with “Happy Holidays.” It’s short. It’s alliterative. It’s not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/9 "2004-12-22T13:45:29Z")
You’re all as mad as a box of frogs. It’s Christmas. That’s why you’ve got the day off. That’s why the shops are painfully full. That’s why you have to get pissed with your boss and wear a comical hat. That’s why you have to eat too much. That’s why your kids want monster robot toys. Because of the baby Jesus. It’s not bloody saturnalia or the winter solstice or Kwanzaa (what the fuck is that?). It’s Christmas. It doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus or not, but that’s what the “holday” is - his notional birthday… Merry bloody Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/10 "2004-12-22T13:47:40Z")
You’re a dolt. Happy Festivus. It’s for the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/11 "2004-12-22T13:51:48Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > It’s Christmas. That’s why you’ve got the day off. Pfft. It’s Christmas on Dec. 24th and 25th - if I’m wishing my patients “Happy Holidays” in mid-November or early December because I won’t see them for a few months, then it sure as hell isn’t just Christmas. It’ll be Diwali and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and Ramadan and Christmas and New Year. And this year I have “the day off” because it’s Saturday and I work Monday through Friday. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/12 "2004-12-22T13:54:59Z")
**owlstretchingtime** , who the fuck cares? I personally think it’s kind of dumb. I’m Jewish and Hanukkah is not only a minor holiday, it’s been over for about a week. Ramadan has been over for even longer.\* But it’s hardly worth getting worked up over. BTW, as I understand it, Kwanzaa is not a replacement for Christmas, it’s usually celebrated in conjuction, since most African Americans who celebrate it are also Christians. \*The Muslim calendar, like the Hebrew calendar, is lunar - only 360 days. But unlike the Hebrew calendar, it doesn’t have a “correction month”, an extra month every few years to keep the months from floating throughout the seasons. So it won’t be that long before Ramadan isn’t falling in the winter at all. And then what will we say to be inclusive to the Muslims?!?!?! Oh nooooo! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/13 "2004-12-22T13:55:30Z")
I said “Happy Holidays” to an acquaintance at the train station this morning. I have no idea if he’s Christian or not, and I was really thinking more “New Year’s” anyway. There _are_ other holidays besides Christmas, y’know. On the other hand, when people wish me “Merry Christmas,” I smile and say, “thank you, you too.” I suppose you expect me to file a lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/14 "2004-12-22T13:57:36Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > It doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus or not, but that’s what the “holday” is - his notional birthday… Ha! A truer word was never misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/15 "2004-12-22T13:57:46Z")
If you say “Happy Christmas” to people, do you also say “Happy New Year”? Do you wish people “Happy Passover” or “Have a good fast” on Ramadan? I’ll bet not. You’re in the UK, do you wish people a “Happy August Bank Holiday”? No, you single out Christmas for exclusive treatment. I’m Jewish, and I feel better when people say “Happy Holidays” to me than when they say “Happy Christmas” (“Merry” in the U.S.)… but I don’t take offense if people say “Happy Christmas” to me. I wouldn’t take offense if someone said “Happy Gay Pride Day” to me, even though I’m not gay. However, most people feel that “Happy Holidays” is more inclusive, more alliterative, and shorter (since it includes “happy new year”). BTW, note that it’s holiday **s** , plural. Everyone has some holiday this season, even if only the New Year. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/16 "2004-12-22T14:00:24Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > On the other hand, when people wish me “Merry Christmas,” I smile and say, “thank you, you too.” I suppose you expect me to file a lawsuit. Well I don’t, but presumably the winnits who thought this lunacy up do. This is what happens when you become oversensitive - you end up looking a bit like a berk. I know y’all couldn’t care less but this is the sort of yank lunacy that gives us europeans such a sense of smugness and condecension. [Cue a million “who cares what the limeys think - they’ve all got bad teeth and eat kidney pies” posts] ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/17 "2004-12-22T14:04:42Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > I know y’all couldn’t care less but this is the sort of yank lunacy that gives us europeans such a sense of smugness and condecension. [Cue a million “who cares what the limeys think - they’ve all got bad teeth and eat kidney pies” posts] Don’t be a nitwit. You start a thread pitting something totally innocuous and _you’re_ getting defensive about _us_ attacking _you_ - which, I will note, hasn’t even freaking happened? Lamest pit thread ever. And that took some doing. Congrats, man. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/18 "2004-12-22T14:04:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I know y’all couldn’t care less but this is the sort of yank lunacy that gives us europeans such a sense of smugness and condecension. Yep, and the assumption that everyone is Christian and thinks alike and acts alike and walks alike and talks alike is exactly why Americans think that so many Brits are pompous, self-centered exclusivist asses. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/19 "2004-12-22T14:06:15Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > If you say “Happy Christmas” to people, do you also say “Happy New Year”? Do you wish people “Happy Passover” or “Have a good fast” on Ramadan? I’ll bet not. You’re in the UK, do you wish people a “Happy August Bank Holiday”? No, you single out Christmas for exclusive treatment. > > I’m Jewish, and I feel better when people say “Happy Holidays” to me than when they say “Happy Christmas” (“Merry” in the U.S.)… but I don’t take offense if people say “Happy Christmas” to me. I wouldn’t take offense if someone said “Happy Gay Pride Day” to me, even though I’m not gay. > > However, most people feel that “Happy Holidays” is more inclusive, more alliterative, and shorter (since it includes “happy new year”). BTW, note that it’s holiday **s** , plural. Everyone has some holiday this season, even if only the New Year. “Happy New Year”? - yes. (In Scotland (I’m half Scottish) New Year “Hogmany” is a bigger deal than christmas so yes I’d say that) “Happy Bank Holiday”? Nope, and I’d get a few funny looks if I did as it would be plain silly. “Happy [insert religion/culture] New year”? - if I knew the person (and was aware that it was that time) - yes. Otherwise no. Happy eid [or similar] - as above. Other than that the only other “Happy” is “happy birthday.” I’m sorry but “happy hoildays” is just plain wrong, and rather patronising to non-christians. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/20 "2004-12-22T14:09:43Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > Do you actually use this ridiculous expression or is it another euro-myth designed to make you look a bit mad? Yes. In fact, tons of us use it. You might claim it’s the standard greeting. > [@](#): > > If you do - Shame on you. What on earth do you think you are doing? If I don’t know, I’m pretty sure you won’t. > [@](#): > > Christmas offends absolutely no one apart from the offenderati and they’re unappeasable. Go appease yourself. I use it because it would be stupid to wish a merry Christmas to people who are celebrating Hanukkah, the solstice, or some other thing. Offending people doesn’t begin to enter into it. > [@](#): > > You’re all as mad as a box of frogs. No country that puts frogs in boxes and measures how insane they are gets to call anybody else crazy. > [@](#): > > It’s Christmas. That’s why you’ve got the day off. _I_ have the day off because I’m unemployed. :o > [@](#): > > That’s why the shops are painfully full. That’s why you have to get pissed with your boss and wear a comical hat. That’s why you have to eat too much. That’s why your kids want monster robot toys. Because of the baby Jesus. Kids want toys because of Jesus? Gee, I thought it was because they’re kids, and they’ve been brought up to know they can expect toys this time of year. > [@](#): > > Merry bloody Christmas. And a happy blow me, numbnuts. Go eat a plum pudding and say hi to your elephant-eared prince. 😛 > [@](#): > > I know y’all couldn’t care less but this is the sort of yank lunacy that gives us europeans such a sense of smugness and condecension. Right you are. Now get off your high horse and get back to picking on us for things that matter, like stomping around the world and bombing large chunks of the Middle East for no good reason. Nitpicking holiday sayings that demonstrate those qualities some of you like to claim Americans don’t have - consideration, tolerance, awareness of others - makes you look like a douchebag. > [@](#): > > I’m sorry but “happy hoildays” is just plain wrong, and rather patronising to non-christians. I’m a non-Christian and I don’t find it patronizing at all. Because it’s not. Are you a non-Christian? 'Cuz I’ll tell you what IS patronizing: telling other people what they think. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145.md?page=2)