Christmas question...

i guess its about their choice of words? we here in the philippines use "merry" and happy for new year. doesn't it have the same meaning?

Dear Tatsuya, I never gave it much thought until your questions, but I found a couple of sources for you that might be helpful. www.phrases.org WHY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND NOT HAPPY? -- All I can figure is that at one point, people in England went around calling everything "merrie." They weren't necessarily happy, but by golly, they were merrie. I based that theory on the following: "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, second edition, 1977) "Merrie England. England of the Anglo-Saxon period and the Middle Ages was not a very happy place to be, let alone 'merrie.' So why this phrase indicating revelry and joyous spirits, as if England were one perpetual Christmastime? The answer is that the word 'merrie' originally meant merely 'pleasing and delightful,' not bubbling over with festive spirits, as it does today. The same earlier meaning is found in the famous expression, 'the merry month of May.'" My only other Merry Christmas fact, recycled from an earlier inquiry: "The tradition of sending Christmas cards originated in the mid-1800's when a few people began to design handmade cards to send to family and friends. A man named John Calcott Horsely is credited as being the first to actually print Christmas cards. The card depicted a family enjoying the holiday, with scenes of people performing acts of charity. The card was inscribed:"Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You" This comes from a very nice site http://www.picklejar.com/traditions.htm that has origins of other Christmas traditions. Not a very strong case, but all I could come up with. Maybe some of the other Phrase Finders will have a different view. www.christmasspirit.wordpress.com Merry Christmas. It was Charles Dickens who invented the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’, apparently. Since then, it has been used on Christmas cards, decorations, in songs. Hope these 2 are helpful PDP5419

I wasn't aware of this. I've known it to be merry christmas for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's just cause people say " happy " for most holidays such as Happy Halloween, Happy Easter, Happy 4th of July, Happy Thanksgiving, etc. But then again it's just an opinion.