Why Do We Say Merry Christmas Instead Of Happy Christmas 2022
While both words have evolved and changed meaning over time (yes—people did once say happy christmas), people stopped using merry as its own individual word. “merry christmas” literally says ‘i hope that the day a week from saturday is good.’ saying “happy holidays” generalizes from the one specific day to the whole holiday season. There’s no grammatical reason to say “merry christmas” rather than “happy christmas”—that’s just the way it is, it’s a set expression. There is a reason why christmas is greeted as ‘merry christmas’ instead of ‘ happy christmas ‘.
In general, “happy holidays” is accepted as the broadest and most inclusive greeting at this time of year. Rev paul brandeis raushenbush wrote an article for huffpost in 2013, and stated, “let’s start with the fact that there are several holidays that fall during december including. There is a reason why christmas is greeted as ‘merry christmas’ instead of ‘ happy christmas ‘. The reason behind the wording is that people often use the word “happy” during the new year, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries.