# Is "Merry Christmas" replacing "Happy Christmas" in Britain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140 "2018-12-14T21:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/1 "2018-12-14T21:38:30Z")
Over the past month I’ve watched two British produced shows (one was the Christmas special for the Great British Baking Show, unfortunately I can’t remember the other) in which one person casually wished another “Merry Christmas.” Which struck me as funny, because I remember being really struck in the past by them using “Happy Christmas” in similar setups in other British shows. Is this just a sampling weirdness, or are the British being corrupted by exposure to American shows? ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/2 "2018-12-14T23:54:11Z")
“Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas” have both been common here for as long as I can remember, which is now over half a century. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/3 "2018-12-15T00:12:52Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas” have both been common here for as long as I can remember, which is now over half a century. Concur. In my own experience, ‘Merry Christmas’ was a fair bit more common just because it was often coupled with “…and a happy New Year” - and that wording seems awkward if used the other way around ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/4 "2018-12-15T00:48:00Z")
The phrase “merry Christmas” occurs 21 times in Dickens’s _A Christmas Carol_. “Happy Christmas” not at all. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/5 "2018-12-15T05:00:30Z")
I blame Slade. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0A8KT365wlA/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-AoACoAKKAgwIABABGGUgXShSMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBM8f_vHsMCwaJGpDBDY8OfEXpA_A "slade - merry christmas everybody") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8KT365wlA) I’m not a Brit but as a consumer of British culture for years I can say it’s not unusual to see the expression. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/6 "2018-12-15T10:01:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I blame Slade. > [https://youtu.be/0A8KT365wlA](https://youtu.be/0A8KT365wlA) > > I’m not a Brit but as a consumer of British culture for years I can say it’s not unusual to see the expression. … and also to blame might be the slightly earlier popular English carol [We Wish You a Merry Christmas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Wish_You_a_Merry_Christmas). The linked Wikipedia article points out that “the greeting “a merry Christmas and a happy New Year” is recorded from the early eighteenth century.” As another single data point… as a Brit, my default greeting has always been “Merry Christmas” ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/7 "2018-12-15T13:49:39Z")
Okay, everyone seems to agree. 🙂 Sampling error, the other way I guess. “Happy Christmas” sounds so weird to my American ears that every time I heard/read it I noticed, while the ‘normal’ Merry Christmases went unobserved. To the eventual point that a “Merry Christmas” in a British accent struck me as weird. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/8 "2018-12-15T14:39:11Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > … and also to blame might be the slightly earlier popular English carol [We Wish You a Merry Christmas](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Wish_You_a_Merry_Christmas). The linked Wikipedia article points out that “the greeting “a merry Christmas and a happy New Year” is recorded from the early eighteenth century.” > > As another single data point… as a Brit, my default greeting has always been “Merry Christmas” I still blame Slade. Noddy Holder is more fun than some anonymous 19th century author. ---
**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 15, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/9 "2018-12-15T15:28:20Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I still blame Slade. Noddy Holder is more fun than some anonymous 19th century author. Slade still make at least £500,000 a year in royalties from that song. Not a bad pension plan, really. > **[How much money do pop stars make from Christmas hits? - BBC Music](https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/13e864b9-2945-4a4f-970c-52b18731b3f1)** > > Releasing a song that gets repeatedly played each holiday season can set a musician up for life, and some ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/10 "2018-12-15T17:34:22Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Slade still make at least £500,000 a year in royalties from that song. Not a bad pension plan, really. > > [How much money do pop stars make from Christmas hits? - BBC Music](https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/13e864b9-2945-4a4f-970c-52b18731b3f1) Nice work if you can get it. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/11 "2018-12-15T17:47:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I still blame Slade. Noddy Holder is more fun than some anonymous 19th century author. True. But then, Noddy is more fun than practically everyone. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/12 "2018-12-16T18:54:59Z")
Here is the most recent tweet from the Archbishop of Canterbury where he says, ‘Happy Christmas.’ > ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/13 "2018-12-16T23:21:32Z")
My mother is English and has always told me Happy Christmas was common when she was growing up, but that may have been the area she grew up in. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/14 "2018-12-17T02:11:17Z")
I think it’s to some extent a class marker in the UK; “Merry Christmas” predominates among the proletariat, but “Happy Christmas” is more common among the Quality. “Happy Christmas” is the dominant expression in Ireland; SFAIK the only Anglophone country where this is so. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/15 "2018-12-17T02:21:30Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Here is the most recent tweet from the Archbishop of Canterbury where he says, ‘Happy Christmas.’ > > [https://twitter.com/justinwelby/status/1074213790969933824?s=21](https://twitter.com/justinwelby/status/1074213790969933824?s=21) And you can find the Queen saying Merry Christmas. Both seem to be used across the pond, while us “Yanks” hardly ever use Happy unless we want to sound British but actually sound like wankers. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/16 "2018-12-17T02:22:40Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > I think it’s to some extent a class marker in the UK; “Merry Christmas” predominates among the proletariat, but “Happy Christmas” is more common among the Quality. > . The Queen \*might \*be considered Quality. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/17 "2018-12-17T02:25:11Z")
Follow-up (semi-serious) question: does anyone say _Happy Krimble_ and/or _Merry Goo Year_ in Britain? (several long-time friends and I, all big Beatles fans, use those salutations in our holiday correspondence every year) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/18 "2018-12-17T03:34:51Z")
Can anyone confirm or deny that in Australia they say, “Bonzer Christmas!” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/19 "2018-12-17T03:36:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The Queen \*might \*be considered Quality. She’s just trying to show she’s down with the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140/20 "2018-12-17T04:09:13Z")
_SNL_ had a skit last night spoofing Theresa May and other British politicians. It was in the form of a TV show, and at the end on the screen appeared the words “Happy Christmas.” I thought that looked a little odd, and now I see this thread. I have known many Brits in Thailand, and not once do I recall any of them saying “Happy Christmas.” Always “Merry Christmas.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-merry-christmas-replacing-happy-christmas-in-britain/826140.md?page=2)