# Felice Navidad **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 2004, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194 "2004-12-05T08:22:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/21 "2004-12-05T20:05:01Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Irish: Nollaig shona dhuit. Lemme see if I remember the Gaelige pronounciation rules well enough to try that one. “Noll-ek haw-nuh ghwaitch” right? (The GH is IIRC like the CH in Bach except voiced.) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/22 "2004-12-05T20:21:50Z")
French is “Joyeux Noël”. Not too bad to pronounce, considering “joie-de-vivre” and “Noel” have snuck right into the English language already. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/23 "2004-12-05T20:33:00Z")
Yesterday I put flea prevention stuff on Auggie, The Cutest Dog on the Planet ™. The whole time, I sang… “Fleas on the dog, fleas on the dog…” I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hear that song again without siging my own lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/24 "2004-12-05T21:19:49Z")
Felice means happy in Italian. So if you happen to be Italian and Spanish, Felice Navidad 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/25 "2004-12-05T21:44:08Z")
> [@umop ap!sdn](#): > > Lemme see if I remember the Gaelige pronounciation rules well enough to try that one. > > “Noll-ek haw-nuh ghwaitch” right? Close enough. I’d say the last word as “ditch” (and spell it _duit_), but there are regional variations. Serbian: _Srećan Božić_. (srech-an boh-zsich. That’s zs as in Zsa Zsa Gabor) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2004, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/26 "2004-12-05T23:43:47Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > French is “Joyeux Noël”. > > Not too bad to pronounce, considering “joie-de-vivre” and “Noel” have snuck right into the English language already. Darn, you beat me to it. I got so far down in the thread I was sure I’d get to show off. I’ll do the transliteration anyway, and that way I’ll feel I’ve contributed something. “Jwoy-OO No-EL” (Actually, the “eux” is somewhere between “oo” and “ew”) Literally translated: “Joyous Christmas” ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/27 "2004-12-06T00:46:47Z")
_ **Japanese:** _ Merii kurisumasu. (Try saying it aloud.) ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/28 "2004-12-06T01:14:17Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > Felice means happy in Italian. So if you happen to be Italian and Spanish, Felice Navidad 🙂 Except that in Italian, it’s actually “Buon Natale.” (although “felice” does mean “happy” in Italian; it’s just not used in this particular seasonal greeting). ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/29 "2004-12-06T01:47:11Z")
Mele kalikimaka! (Hawaiian) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/30 "2004-12-06T01:47:22Z")
Indonesion - Selamat Hari Natal Hawaiian - Melle Kelikimaka ---
**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/31 "2004-12-06T01:48:45Z")
Woohoo! Simulpost for the Hawaiian! ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/32 "2004-12-06T02:26:36Z")
> [@Skopo](#): > > Except that in Italian, it’s actually “Buon Natale.” (although “felice” does mean “happy” in Italian; it’s just not used in this particular seasonal greeting). We need to get busy and tell 15,000 websites they have it misspelled. 😃 [http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=felice+navidad](http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=felice+navidad) ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/33 "2004-12-06T02:33:31Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > _ **Japanese:** _ Merii kurisumasu. (Try saying it aloud.) Japanese is fun that way! ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/34 "2004-12-06T03:14:32Z")
But if “felice” were a Spanish word, it’d be pronounced fe-lee-say, not fe-leess. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Abbie\_Carmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@Abbie\_Carmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abbie_Carmichael)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194/35 "2004-12-06T03:53:37Z")
> [@Kantalooppi](#): > > I’m not seeing how you derive “hoo-aah” from “Hauskaa”, which would be pronounced more like “House-kaah”. “Hoo-aah” would be closer to “Hyvää joulua”, which is also a Christmas greeting, meaning pretty much the same thing. I’m not a Finn. I learned to say Merry Christmas from the Finnish exchange student in high school. If you’re a Finn, I stand corrected. If you’re not, then I guess it’s a draw. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/felice-navidad/278194.md?page=1)