I think this is the real problem. Political Correctness and the backlash associated with it. Before everything was PC, i don’t recall anyone getting in a twist if they were wished a Happy Holiday or Merry Christmas. But when the invention of PC language began to infiltrate our lingo, I think many people felt that “Christmas” was being changed to “holidays” for PC’s sake, and that started to irritate people.
At least that’s my guess. It seems to fit in with the timeline also, since as many of you have pointed out, “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” were perfectly acceptable once upon a time.
I’m not offended by “merry Xmas” or “happy holidays” - I’m just deeply irritated that you so blithely assume that I care about your holiday. My normal response to “Have a good Xmas” is “No.”
I don’t have a problem with either adjective for Christmas. Indeed these should be times when we can allow anyone to use either modern or archaic terminology. Therefore, I support a gay-merry age.
Is this the time to highlight the controversial rewriting of the Deck The Halls phrase, “Don we now our gay apparel!” by the Hallmark Stores? [Okay, maybe in a separate thread.]
I think Stink Fish Pot is spot-on in his mention of the spectre of political correctness above. I find that ironic because the right-wing seems to chafe under that PC pressure and consider it a left-wing creation. It was originally a right-wing pseudo-policy in reaction to R. Reagan[1] and Dan Quayle[2]* saying some ludicrously stupid things that hurt the Republican Party’s credibility. It has become a media frenzy and a tool of both the left and the right to distract the public from issues and have us, instead, focus on messages, sound-bites, tweets, and unintended or misunderstood utterances.
My neutral phrase has been “Seasonal Greetings” for quite a while, though I also make a point of bringing treats in to work on the days of equinox and solstice. I leave them out and let people partake, without spoiling their enjoyment by explaining why.
–G!
[1]“I seem to recall that those trees you all want to save…they give off some kind of gas, too.”
[2]“To the NAACP! Because a mind is a terrible thing.”
There’s been a slight kerfuffle about it…Hallmark has an ornament out this year that’s supposed to commemorate the traditional tacky Christmas sweater. The sweater ornament is emblazoned with the phrase “Don we now our fun apparel”. Uh oh.
Don’t you think that she knows that not everybody is a Christian?
Would you gently remind a Moslem that not everybody is a Moslem if they wished you a happy Moslem holiday during their holiday times?
I’ve actually met Christians who understand in an intellectual sense that not everyone is Christian but emotionally they don’t get it and on a certain level they don’t really believe it. Then there are the Christians who know everyone isn’t Christian but think they should be, up to an including forcing compliance.
I’m against Thanksgiving shopping because it just fuels the whole “Black Friday” frothing consumerist mania bullshit. That sort of nonsense with “doorbuster” deals and all of that contributes to situations like actual “door busting” by riled up crowds, injuries/deaths from trampling, fights, etc.
