Happy / Merry Christmas

Happy / Merry Christmas
Message de komiks posté le 21-12-2012 à 19:32:34 (S | E | F)
Bonjour,
J'ai toujours appris que l'on disait "Merry Christmas" et non "Happy Christmas".
Or, notre professeur d'anglais nous a fait chanter tout à l'heure la chanson de John Lennon "Happy Xmas (war is over)".
Serait-il correct de dire "happy" au lieu de "merry" ?
Merci d'avance pour vos réponses.
Bonne soirée et bonnes fêtes de fin d'année

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Modifié par lucile83 le 21-12-2012 19:47

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de bluestar, postée le 21-12-2012 à 20:27:43 (S | E)
Bonsoir,

"Merry Christmas" is usually said in America, "Happy Christmas" in the U.K.

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de komiks, postée le 21-12-2012 à 21:13:34 (S | E)
Good evening bluestar !
Thank you for your answer !
Have a nice evening

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de lemagemasque, postée le 22-12-2012 à 11:03:15 (S | E)
Hello!

A link about "Happy Christmas/Merry Christmas" and others:
Lien internet

See you!

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de komiks, postée le 22-12-2012 à 12:38:22 (S | E)
Thank you very much lemagemasque !
See you

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de lemagemasque, postée le 22-12-2012 à 12:42:15 (S | E)
You're welcome and thank you discreet lucile!

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Modifié par lucile83 le 22-12-2012 12:54

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de kadzona, postée le 23-12-2012 à 16:19:09 (S | E)
Hello to all here.
In all my 60+ years of being a native English speaker, I have almost never found myself saying "Happy Christmas": bluestar suggests this usage is correct for the UK and that "Merry Christmas" is the American way. However, it is far more common, in England, for people to say, and to wish each other a "Merry Christmas" than to say "Happy Christmas". Nowadays, the phrase "Happy Christmas" sounds a little odd – to a native English speaker in England.
Happy . . . .Birthday: Anniversary: New Year. Merry Christmas.

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de lucile83, postée le 23-12-2012 à 16:29:21 (S | E)
Hello,

I have always heard 'Merry Christmas'.
I have never heard anybody say 'Happy Xmas'.

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de komiks, postée le 23-12-2012 à 17:02:12 (S | E)
Hello kadzona and lucile !
C'est justement pour cela que j'ai posté ce sujet, car je n'avais jamais entendu "Happy Christmas" auparavant et cela me paraissait étrange.
Je vais de tout manière garder "Merry Christmas".
Thank you very much everybody.
Season's Greetings and, Merry Christmas !

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de bluestar, postée le 23-12-2012 à 17:58:33 (S | E)
Bonjour..

There is no "correct" or "incorrect" here, just custom and practice. The following may be of interest (from Wikipedia):

The alternative "Happy Christmas" gained usage in the late 19th century, and is still common in the UK and Ireland alongside "Merry Christmas". One reason may be the Methodist Victorian middle-class influence in attempting to separate wholesome celebration of the Christmas season from common lower-class public insobriety and associated asocial behaviour, at a time when merry also meant "tipsy" or "drunk". Queen Elizabeth II is said to prefer "Happy Christmas" for this reason.

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de gerondif, postée le 25-12-2012 à 19:29:15 (S | E)
Hello,
in Tignes, an almost British ski resort, they keep saying "Happy Christmas" on the local radio, which I find a little odd..............

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de notrepere, postée le 25-12-2012 à 19:52:08 (S | E)
Hello

Several BE dictionaries do say "Happy Christmas", including Reverso and Macmillan. However, the Cambridge dictionary only says "Merry Christmas". John Lennon and Yoko Ono released a song in 1971 entitled "Happy Christmas, War is over". As a greeting, it is always "Merry Christmas" in the U.S., but it looks like Happy Christmas is also said in at least parts of the UK.

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de komiks, postée le 27-12-2012 à 15:05:29 (S | E)
Thank you for these specifications.
I wish you a very happy holiday season.
Thank you again

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de anonyme, postée le 27-12-2012 à 17:49:59 (S | E)
Bonsoir,

J’apporte un demi- verre d’eau au moulin de notrepère : à l’article « happy » Le Robert & Collins senior donne l’exemple « happy Christmas » et à l’article « Noël » il réitère « joyeux Noël ! : merry ou happy Christmas! »
Bonne soirée !

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de kadzona, postée le 27-12-2012 à 23:02:33 (S | E)
Hello, all who are enjoying a Happy festive season, having enjoyed a Merry Christmas.

I conducted a small survey of various friends and acquaintances and my evidence seems to suggest that "Happy Christmas" is more common than "Merry Christmas" in certain regions of England than in others - notably, in the south and south-west and the area sometimes known as The Home Counties.

This will no doubt serve to complicate the issue even further.

Regards from Kadzona

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Réponse: Happy / Merry Christmas de lucile83, postée le 28-12-2012 à 07:52:50 (S | E)
Hello,

I think we could say that both Happy /Merry Xmas exist.
We just can hear either of them according to the area where we live or stay.
I have to precise that when I said I never heard Happy Xmas, it did not mean that it does not exist

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