Why does America say 'merry christmas'?
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?
ndru, Merry Christmas is a popular expression in the UK too.
I think that merriment is actually much easier to attain than happiness. One could be miserable in life, but have a few drinks and be merry.
phorq, Spanish Is it wrong for me to say that the pessimism with a side of alcohol is the most British you could possibly describe being merry?
RainfallSonata, Personally, merry Christmas just sounds better than happy Christmas. Something about the repeated “m” sound, I think.
Varyk, That’s called euphonics, and I agree
Deceptichum, 
It was bad when Hitler did it and I’m not going to suddenly start agreeing with it.
ivanafterall, 
It's Christmas! Let the guy do a little euphonics if it makes him happy.
Varyk, Euphonics?
TheGalacticVoid, Replace “euphonics” with “eugenics” and the joke will make sense
ada, 
Who is “everyone else” in this story?
The only place I know that days Happy Christmas is the UK
In Australia, it’s merry
Mr_Dr_Oink, I’m from the UK, and I’ve always said merry.
I doubt it’s any more prevalent in a specific country and more likely specific to individual families and friends.
For example, i always thought it was an american thing to say happy christmas.
Rhynoplaz, Definitely not an American thing. It’s ALL Merry over here.
jak, My family always said happy, but we also say Gesundheit, so who knows
ada, Either way, happy and merry Christmas to you :)
bamboo, Happy Merry to you too!
TheGalacticVoid, In the US, it’s incredibly rare if not impossible to find someone who says “Happy Christmas.” It’s either “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.”
TheMongoose, The song goes “We wish you a merry Christmas”, so that’ll always be there for as long as the song is popular.
Plus (also because of the song, I assume), you say “merry Christmas and a happy new year”, not “happy Christmas and a happy new year”. Too much happy there.
berkeleyblue, 
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, 
am from uk. merry christmas is very much the common phrase here by a long shot
hellothere, Agreed - it’s merry christmas and happy new year.
queermunist, The vast majority of Americans don’t even know that ‘merriment’ is a word. They just know you’re supposed to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ That’s it.
HowManyNimons, AND IF YOU DONT SAY IT YOUR WOKE RAAAA
TurboDiesel, 
The great irony there being “happy holidays” is from the Old English (language, not malt liquor) for “happy holy days.”
PlasterAnalyst, The great irony being that Bing Crosby had a very famous song called "happy holidays" that is featured in the movie "holiday inn" and if you don't like a Bing Crosby Christmas movie you're a goddamn communist.
otp, My woke did what?
ObviouslyNotBanana, (edited ) 
In my country we say “Have a good Yule”.
Lmaydev, Well your country is wrong.
ObviouslyNotBanana, Nä, julen är äldre än kristmässan.
Deceptichum, No, Jul are older than Christmas?
odium, *is
I think
ObviouslyNotBanana, Yes.
odium, Crazy how easy it was to understand that sentence perfectly without speaking any Nordic languages
ObviouslyNotBanana, Det är bra att man kan göra sig förstådd såhär i juletider.
odium, Now this sentence I don’t understand at all
ObviouslyNotBanana, Det var verkligen jättetråkigt :(
Wodge, 
no u
espentan, God jul!
ObviouslyNotBanana, God jul och glad fortsättning!
PlasterAnalyst, Yule see, yule all see!
whenigrowup356, Insofar as there’s a distinction between the two, I feel like you’ve got it switched. Merriment would be a night out with drinks and friends, whereas deep happiness would be more like contentedness with your life choices. But they’re about the same. Plus “A Christmas Carol” uses Merry, and it’s like the ultimate Christmas story.
JoYo, 
Around here we wish you a homosexual Christmas
Xtallll, 
AKA: make the yule time gay.
NounsAndWords, We like to brag about our ability to still pronounce the R sound.
Similar to why Brits say Happy Christmas, honestly.
IWantToFuckSpez, (edited ) Lol no. You yanks can’t pronounce the R. The only real R is a rolling R. If your tongue is not tapping and vibrating against your palate you are not pronouncing an R.
sab, 
There's a slight chance I could be convinced to accept the french R into the company of real R sounds, but I agree the rolling one is where it's at. The American one is something special.
TulipanJones, If Americans aren’t pronouncing an R, then what letter are they pronouncing?
IWantToFuckSpez, [ɹ]
elbarto777, Stupid comment. You’re referring to the Spanish R, or in a language with a similar R sound.
Imagine if a French or German person told you that their R is the only way to pronounce the R.
This kind of misguided gatekeeping is exhausting.
SirSamuel, Dude it was a joke. The first comment was a joke, and the reply was a follow-up “no u” joke. I’m sorry you can’t read into subtext without /s
Also, Spanish R? Have you not heard of Scots? It’s called apical-alveolar trill, and I wish i could pronounce it better lol
elbarto777, Oh. Teehee. All good then. Happy holidays fellow lemming.
SirSamuel, fingerguns.gif
angstylittlecatboy, (edited ) “Merry Christmas” is pretty much the only context I see my fellow Americans use the word “Merry” other than deliberately trying to sound upper class British.
sentient_loom, (edited ) 
Canada says Merry Christmas even though we usually do British spelling and measurements.
Also, the north pole is either in Canada or Russia (not going to look it up) so we are probably correct.
TonyTonyChopper, 
The area around the north pole is just ice without any land underneath. It’s also not part of any nation.
donuts, 
The only people I've personally known who exclusively say "Happy Christmas" are Irish. Are you Irish, OP?
Blackout, 
Bah humbug
lemmus, (edited ) 
deleted_by_author
macgyver, 
Idk what country you’re in but Americans would say merry Christmas or happy holidays in most circumstances.
Wodge, Am British, also use Nadolig Llawen.
donuts, I've lived in America for almost my entire life and I've never once heard an American say "Happy Christmas". "Happy Holidays", sure, but that's mostly reserved for the days leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Day it's always just "Merry Christmas".
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