# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/21 "2004-12-22T14:09:59Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > You’re all as mad as a box of frogs. Your country has an official state religion and mine doesn’t, so kiss my ass. I’ve been saying “Happy Holidays” for years, ever since I went to college and every third person I met was Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu. It’s second nature to me now. I don’t wish anyone “Merry Christmas” unless I’m certain the recipient of the wish celebrates it. ---
**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, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/22 "2004-12-22T14:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=owlstretchingtimeI’m sorry but “happy hoildays” is just plain wrong, and rather patronising to non-christians.[/QUOTE] Then why aren’t **CK** and I (non-Christians both) up in arms about it? I think _your_ attitude is pretty fucking patronizing. Hey, **owl** , we spell color and favor differently from you guys too! And we drive on the right and take elevators instead of lifts! Please, why don’t you pit some of those international differences, as well? Everyone is looking forward to your stimulating insights. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/23 "2004-12-22T14:11:17Z")
Is _that_ what they’re saying? I thought it was “Happy Harley Days” and just assumed they lurrrrrve their bikes. 😉 ---
**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, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/24 "2004-12-22T14:11:34Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Hey, **owl** , we spell color and favor differently from you guys too! And we drive on the right and take elevators instead of lifts! Please, why don’t you pit some of those international differences, as well? Everyone is looking forward to your stimulating insights. And when we do give Christmas-specific wishes, we say “Merry Christmas” not “Happy Christmas.” Ohmygod, we’ve gotten that part wrong too! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/25 "2004-12-22T14:12:03Z")
I stopped saying “Merry Cristmas” and started simply bellowing at the top of my lungs “WHERE’S YOUR CHRIST-CHILD NOW, JESUS-FREAK! IT’S BEEN OVER 2000 DAMN YEARS! WHY DID HE FORGET ABOUT US? DOES HE NOT LOVE US ANYMORE? DID HE CONVERT TO ISLAM, LIKE IN THAT ONION ARTICLE? HOW THE FUCK LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH? IS THERE BAD TRAFFIC OR SOMETHING? IS HIS CAR IN THE SHOP? DID IT SLIP HIS MIND THAT HE PROMISED TO COME BACK WITHIN THE LIFETIME OF THE PEOPLE IN HIS DAY? THOSE GUYS MUST BE PRETTY DAMN DECREPIT BY NOW! THEY MUST BE PRAYING FOR DEATH! I KNOW MOST OF THEM ARE STILL DRIVING, I SEE THEM EVERY DAY IN BOCA RATON! USUALLY IN FRONT OF ME ON I-95 OR ROLLING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AT ABOUT A MOLECULE PER HOUR AND BLOCKING TRAFFIC! OR WITH 450 ITEMS IN THEIR CART AND IN THE EXPRESS LANE AT PUBLIX! WHERE WAS I? OH YEAH, IT’S TAKING LONG DAMN TIME FOR JESUS TO COME BACK! DID I MENTION THAT YET?” ---
**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, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/26 "2004-12-22T14:12:27Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > 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. We may well be. However we don’t assume that people who are of different faiths, or none, will automatically be mortally offended if we happen to celebrate one that we’ve been quitehappy with for 2,000 years. No one is offendedby Christmas. All the people (a fair few) that i know who are of other faiths and cultures rather enjoy christmas. “Happy Holidays” is partonising PC gobbledegook. (btw unless you’re calling us donkeys (always possible I suppose) it’s ARSES). Happy day after the winter solstice one and all. ---
**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, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/27 "2004-12-22T14:14:43Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > However we don’t assume that people who are of different faiths, or none, will automatically be mortally offended if we happen to celebrate one that we’ve been quitehappy with for 2,000 years. > > No one is offendedby Christmas. All the people (a fair few) that i know who are of other faiths and cultures rather enjoy christmas. The idea that this saying was adopted to avoid offending people exists, much like the British Empire, only in your mind. “Happy holidays” predates political correctness. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/28 "2004-12-22T14:15:38Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > 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. So I guess they make you work on New Year’s Eve in whatever Dickensonian hell you come from? Happy Holidays is all-inclusive. It encompasses Christmas, New Years, the winter solstice for the pagans and astronomers, and even owlstretchingtime for those loons who practise that odd day. And yes, it doesn’t leave out anyone celebrating Chanukah or any other ---
**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, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/29 "2004-12-22T14:17:22Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Your country has an official state religion and mine doesn’t, so kiss my ass. . I have never kissed anyone’s donkey over a doctrinal issue. Still there’s a first for everything - email a picture of eyeore and I’ll see if I fancy it. I’ve probably shagged worse. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/30 "2004-12-22T14:18:14Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I’m Jewish and Hanukkah is not only a minor holiday, it’s been over for about a week. But…but…::sputter::…we all _know_ that Hanukkah is just so the Jews can be included in Christmas without admitting the whole Jesus thing! ---
**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, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/31 "2004-12-22T14:20:50Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > So I guess they make you work on New Year’s Eve in whatever Dickensonian hell you come from? Welll of course it’s Dickensian - it’s about a 20 minute walk from his house. NYE is a working day in the UK. New Years’s day is a bank holiday (and the day after that as well in Scotland) ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/32 "2004-12-22T14:21:02Z")
> [@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. I use the term because I don’t know what, if any, holiday people celebrate, and if nothing else I can tell them to enjoy their four-day weekend. It’s a genuine acknowledgment that not all of us are Christian. Your post is dumb. You are dumb. ---
**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, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/33 "2004-12-22T14:21:51Z")
> [@](#): > > No one is offendedby Christmas. _I_ am offended by Christmas. I am offended that something that is, at heart, a religious holiday has become so all-pervasive, so full of advertising, so phoney (the ludicrous pretense that everyone is brimming over with good will for the week), so shallow, and so mercenary. The number of people suffering from Christmas-related traumas grows every year – they think they’re supposed to be in happy, warm, family relationships and they’re not. The number of people who give charity at Christmas and never again during the year is appalling – as though people who are starving get a turkey dinner for Christmas and that’s all right and all they need. The hypocrites who call out “Merry Christmas” while cheating their neighbors. Yeah, I’m offended by Christmas. I amend my prior statement: it’s not that the Brits think that everyone is Christian, but that everyone is Church of England. And, if Charles Dickens could say “ass” then so can I. ---
**Author:** ![Yakkette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@Yakkette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yakkette)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/34 "2004-12-22T14:25:28Z")
Wait. Hold on. Chanukah is over. As far as I know, Kwanzaa (don’t even get me started on THAT) starts the day AFTER Christmas. And to be perfectly honest, I have NO clue when Ramadan begins OR ends. Christmas is three days away. Right now, it’s Christmas. I say Merry Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS, DAMMIT! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/35 "2004-12-22T14:26:04Z")
**owlstretchingtime** , It is all possible in your mind that it’s simply a desire to be factually correct, not politically correct? It’s just stupid to wish somebody Merry Christmas if they don’t celebrate it. It can have nothing at all to do with offensiveness, but simply not saying things that don’t factually apply. Why say “Merry Christmas” when “Happy Holidays” covers it all? I can assure you I say ‘Happy Holidays’ not because I’m concerned about offending, but because it may be simply incorrect that the person I speak to celebrates Christmas. It’s kinda ignorant to assume everybody celebrates Christmas. ---
**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, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/36 "2004-12-22T14:28:15Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > _I_ am offended by Christmas. I am offended that something that is, at heart, a religious holiday has become so all-pervasive, so full of advertising, so phoney (the ludicrous pretense that everyone is brimming over with good will for the week), so shallow, and so mercenary. The number of people suffering from Christmas-related traumas grows every year – they think they’re supposed to be in happy, warm, family relationships and they’re not. The number of people who give charity at Christmas and never again during the year is appalling – as though people who are starving get a turkey dinner for Christmas and that’s all right and all they need. The hypocrites who call out “Merry Christmas” while cheating their neighbors. Yeah, I’m offended by Christmas. > > I amend my prior statement: it’s not that the Brits think that everyone is Christian, but that everyone is Church of England. > > And, if Charles Dickens could say “ass” then so can I. Bah Humbug! indeed. And we Brits think that anyone who doesn’t go to church is Church of England. It’s the “don’t know” denomination. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/37 "2004-12-22T14:28:24Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I stopped saying “Merry Cristmas” and started simply bellowing at the top of my lungs “WHERE’S YOUR CHRIST-CHILD NOW, JESUS-FREAK! IT’S BEEN OVER 2000 DAMN YEARS! WHY DID HE FORGET ABOUT US? DOES HE NOT LOVE US ANYMORE? DID HE CONVERT TO ISLAM, LIKE IN THAT ONION ARTICLE? HOW THE FUCK LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH? IS THERE BAD TRAFFIC OR SOMETHING? IS HIS CAR IN THE SHOP? DID IT SLIP HIS MIND THAT HE PROMISED TO COME BACK WITHIN THE LIFETIME OF THE PEOPLE IN HIS DAY? THOSE GUYS MUST BE PRETTY DAMN DECREPIT BY NOW! THEY MUST BE PRAYING FOR DEATH! I KNOW MOST OF THEM ARE STILL DRIVING, I SEE THEM EVERY DAY IN BOCA RATON! USUALLY IN FRONT OF ME ON I-95 OR ROLLING OUT OF A PARKING SPACE AT ABOUT A MOLECULE PER HOUR AND BLOCKING TRAFFIC! OR WITH 450 ITEMS IN THEIR CART AND IN THE EXPRESS LANE AT PUBLIX! WHERE WAS I? OH YEAH, IT’S TAKING LONG DAMN TIME FOR JESUS TO COME BACK! DID I MENTION THAT YET?” Stop, STOP! Oh, it hurts to laugh this hard! **Ferret Herder** , first of all, I’m sure you know - you can’t herd ferrets, no matter how hard you try. And secondly, thanks for mentioning Diwali. ---
**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, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/38 "2004-12-22T14:29:51Z")
What’s Kwanzaa? We certainly don’t have that here. (this is a genuine question - I’ve never heard of it) ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/39 "2004-12-22T14:30:36Z")
I always say “happy holidays” rather than use the “C” word. I work in the business world, and one must be politically correct these days. Sad but true. ---
**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, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145/40 "2004-12-22T14:32:04Z")
> [@owlstretchingtime](#): > > And we Brits think that anyone who doesn’t go to church is Church of England. It’s the “don’t know” denomination. Fair point. Back to the box of frogs thing: the country that gave us Monty Python, eats brain and kidney pie, and includes “Jedi” as a religion on its census **does not get to call anybody “mad,” okay**? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-in-the-usa-actually-say-happy-holidays/281145.md?page=3)