Why the royals never say "Merry Christmas"

Have you ever wondered where the phrase "Merry Christmas" actually comes from? After all, for most other holidays, we say "happy." In a world where "Happy Easter" and "Happy Birthday" are the norm, that "merry" part of "Merry Christmas" is unique—to say the least.

Yes!  "Happy Christmas" hasn't faded completely—it's still widely used in England. This is believed to be because "happy" took on a higher class connotation than "merry," which was associated with the rowdiness of the lower classes. The royal family adopted "Happy Christmas" as their preferred greeting, and others took note. In fact, each year, Queen Elizabeth continues to wish her citizens a "Happy Christmas," rather than a merry one.

Historians believe it might boil down to a simple grammatical lesson. "Happy" is a word that describes an inner emotional condition, while "merry" is more of a behavior descriptor—something active and maybe even raucous, e.g. making noise in a merry mood after a good drinking. Merry can be a euphemism for “drunk,” though this use was often considered vulgar in the 18th century.

As both words evolved and changed meaning over time, people slowly stopped using "merry" as its own individual word during the 18th and 19th centuries. It stuck around in common phrases like "the more, the merrier," as well as in things like Christmas songs and stories, largely due to the influence of Charles Dickens. In Charles Dickens’s 1843 classic “A Christmas Carol,” for example, Christmas is mildly merry – the characters look forward to the pleasures of their Christmas pudding – but the holiday is also meant to be a time for self-reflection and charity.  Dickens’s characters use the phrase “Merry Christmas,” as did the first Christmas card, which depicts a prosperous family framed by images of people feeding and clothing poor people. 

It's no wonder that now, when we hear "Merry Christmas," we hear something sentimental. Even the word "merry" on its own now makes us think of December 25.

所有跟帖： 

• Seems I heard this in the past. Thanks for refreshing my memory! -beautifulwind- ♀ (136 bytes) () 12/02/2020 postreply 20:44:32

• I hope u r not talking about this one :-)) -移花接木- ♂ (164 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 04:44:35

• Haha, no wonder ur writing is so good.:) -beautifulwind- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 09:13:00

• 长知识了. I though saying merry christmas and happy new year just t -woodwishper- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/02/2020 postreply 22:06:04

• Geez, even Xmas can’t escape the bloody unspoken classism! -just_4_fun- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 01:15:04

• damn it, Psychic class should drop "merry" -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 04:47:24

• Good to know -小公主- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 08:38:35

• haha, we say "happy holiday". -树的花花世界- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 09:42:57

• Jehovah's Whitness dont observe Xmas, Xmas is offensive 2 em, 'H -移花接木- ♂ (42 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 12:51:40

• hehe, cultural inclusiveness and political correctness. -树的花花世界- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/04/2020 postreply 06:32:17

• 长知识了：）谢谢 -甜虫虫- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 10:34:51

• Good one! -moiausis- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 10:43:57

• Have a nice Christmas? -忒绿- ♀ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 11:33:00

• Nope, it's blessing for a goodbye , -移花接木- ♂ (0 bytes) () 12/03/2020 postreply 12:55:29