Why does America say 'merry christmas'? (lemmy.world)

submitted 11 months ago by _number8_@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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while it seems everyone else says 'happy christmas'

which imo is a way better phrase, it's very ... pragmatic. happiness is more attainable than merriment. how often is anyone merry?

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[-] berkeleyblue@lemmy.world 22 points 11 months ago

Tradition, mostly.

Dickens used Merry Christmas in his Christmas Carol and the US used the greeting since the 19th century.

In the UK however, happy christmas is more common as the royals used that phrase.

There’s apparently no big thing behind it. Just the way language evolved with different influences in different regions.

[-] Breakyfix 26 points 11 months ago

am from uk. merry christmas is very much the common phrase here by a long shot

[-] hellothere@sh.itjust.works 13 points 11 months ago

Agreed - it's merry christmas and happy new year.

this post was submitted on 25 Dec 2023

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