Why do we say "merry Christmas" while saying happy for all o

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Why do we say "merry Christmas" while saying "happy" for all other holidays?

Why do people think people care?

they say happy christmas in england. i'm going to guess saying merry christmas came from 'twas the night before christmas'.

I thought the op was talking about the controversy of people thinking that "Merry Christmas" offends people who don't celebrate Christmas so the politically correct thing to say is supposed to be "Happy Holidays".

It's a case of the perpetuation of tradition, which in this case is a happy thing, because it keeps alive a nice, quaint word in our language which would otherwise fall into redundance.

i do the most politically correct thing by not speaking

Merry, Joyful, Happy.. my family uses all three interchangeable as well as Blessed.

Happy is passive and is rooted in the meaning of "Luck" and is a feeling
but Merry is an active and rooted in the meaning of "joyful".

So in a fussy Christian point of the Puritan/Protestant heavy US as well as American Catholics that still use latin in Mass; it is not "LUCK" it was by design and is the "joy" of the world.


I think US is the one that has used "Merry" into most modern time, since EU peeps use "Happy" now?

Yes.."merry" implies being an active member of a group.

"Happy" is more of an internal individual emotional state.

But there is also that archaic language factor.

"good tidings to you, and all of your kin...we wish you a merry Christmas"

"Tidings" was the word until the 12 hundreds AD when it was replaced by the word "news" in Middle English.

Even more archaic than "merry", but like merry it gets preserved in a Christmas carol.

"Happy" goes with "holidays" because its alliterative.

Both start with H.

"Merry" goes with "Christmas".

Not sure why. It just flows out of your mouth better. And its what Santa said in "the Night before Christmas" poem as he takes off of the roof. So there is that tradition.

"merry Christmas"
"merry-go-round"
"the more the merrier"

Expressions where "merry" is used.

well then I guess that Prometheus above was wrong, and "merry" isn't so archaic.

Last edited by naturalplastic on 25 Dec 2018, 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

There's also "we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year". Saying "we wish you a happy Christmas and a happy New Year" sounds repetitive.

Yeah but it isn't used very often outside of sayings and objects like merry-go-rounds.
For some reason, even though my favourite ones at the fair are electronic ones, merry-go-rounds remind me of Edwardian times.
If someone, not on Christmas day, started saying 'I'm merry that I got a good result in my exam' people would think they were speaking a bit funny.
Merry can be used as a euphemism for slightly drunk though.

Wishing people a Merry Christmas brings back nostalgic feelings about my childhood.

Hmmmm…

That does sound funny.

To say "I am merry about passing the driver's test at the MVA, and about getting my license", or whatever it is that you're "happy" about.


"Merriment" means conviviality, and good fellowship, and having a boisterous time, at a particular event at particular point in time. So wishing someone a "merry Christmas" means that you are wishing them a good time at Christmas.

In contrast wishing someone a "happy new year" means that you are expressing hope for them for that coming year: that things will go well for them in their lives, that they will have good fortune, and like that, for the next year long span of time. So merry and happy really don't mean quite the same thing.

Do a thought experiment. Try swapping it around. You could wish someone a "happy Christmas" and it would sound a bit clunky and the person might think you were from a foreign country, but no one would object to it.

And if you wished someone a "merry new year" it would also sound mildy odd, because that's not the convention. But no one would object. But here is the thing. It would not be taken to mean the same thing a "happy new year". A "merry new year" would be understood to mean "have a blast at your new year's eve celebration party" which is not the same thing as "happy new year" which means "may you have good fortune in the next twelve months of your life".

“Merry” was common well into the 19th century.

It is well understood today....but considered archaic.