# Why "Merry" Christmas: Not Merry Birthday, Merry 4th Of July, Etc? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024 "2008-12-13T17:35:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/1 "2008-12-13T17:35:33Z")
I doubt many Americans use the word “merry” very much in everyday usage; I cannot remember the last time someone told me they had a merry time at the party, or had a merry day. Ever see a “Merry Hanukkah!” card? Merry Birthday? Merry Anniversary? I believe in other English speaking countries, they often wish people a “Happy Christmas”, but here in the USA, every year we dust off the word “merry” and throw it out there as if it were a totally normal, everyday word. So, unless you are a huge LOTR fan, do you use the word “merry” any other time of the year in normal word usage? ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/2 "2008-12-13T17:42:39Z")
My American friend who lives in London says, “Happy Christmas” now. I say Merry because… Damn! I don’t know why. (I’m a sheep) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/3 "2008-12-14T07:49:26Z")
I say “Happy Holidays” because I am a fighting soldier in the War on Christian Christmas! ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/4 "2008-12-14T22:39:18Z")
Twas the night before Christmas…blah blah blah…St Nick shows up…yadda yadda yadda…when he leaves he says… “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night”. And that story set the tone for Christmases to come. Happy Holidays. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/5 "2008-12-15T04:38:01Z")
“But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.” Sorry, you’ll have to look somewhere else. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/6 "2008-12-15T06:07:55Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > I say “Happy Holidays” because I am a fighting soldier in the War on Christian Christmas! I support our troops! But I personally prefer “Bah, humbug”, because it avoids the happy/merry/Christmas/holidays confusion. ---
**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, 2008, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/7 "2008-12-15T10:31:52Z")
Because Happy Christmas sounds tinny. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-merry-christmas-not-merry-birthday-merry-4th-of-july-etc/477024/8 "2008-12-15T12:01:47Z")
Merriness is not the same as happiness. It implies alcohol consumption in a cheerful familial environment.