Why Americans Say, "Merry Christmas" While Others Don't

We say "happy" for basically everything. Happy birthday. Happy Halloween. Happy anniversary. Happy Friday if you're really enthusiastic.

So then, why do we say, “merry Christmas?”

The Word "Merry" Showed Up First

"Merry" came from Old English by way of Germanic languages. Originally meant "pleasing," but over time expanded to cover "festive" and "joyous." The earliest known "merry Christmas" dates back to 1534—in a letter from John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, to Thomas Cromwell. "And thus our Lord send yow a mery Christenmas," Fisher wrote.

"Happy" showed up in English around the 14th century from "hap," meaning "good fortune." It also broadened to cover pleasure and celebration. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "Happy New Year" came first in the mid-16th century. "Happy Christmas" was in use by the late 17th century.

So, both were options for a while.

The Victorians Made "Merry" Win

Victorian era is when "merry" pulled ahead, thanks to Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol in 1843 has roughly 20 "Merry Christmases" and not a single "happy Christmas." The first commercial Christmas card debuted that same year and said "Merry Christmas."

The phrase showed up in carols too. Early versions of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" included this charming stanza: "I wish you a merry Christmas / And a happy new year / A pocket full of money / And a cellar full of beer."

Our modern idea of Christmas is still very much a Victorian thing. We're still reading A Christmas Carol, sending Christmas cards, listening to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." We added our own memorable references too—Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Home Alone 2's "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!"

People did say "merry Thanksgiving" and "merry birthday" into the 20th century. But the ever-growing pile of Christmas culture containing "merry" anchored it to the holiday in a way that didn't happen with anything else.

But "Merry" Has a Boozy Reputation

Despite their overlap, "merry" and "happy" aren't the same thing. Since the 14th century, people have used "merry" to mean "boisterous or cheerful due to alcohol." So "Merry Christmas" might be a winking way to say, "I hope your cup runneth over... with champagne at all the best Christmas parties."

Some people found that problematic for a religious holiday.

"We make Christmas excessively merry, only by being excessively wicked; and we celebrate the festivity of our Savior, as if we were ministering the mad orgies of Bacchus," someone complained in a 1772 issue of The London Magazine. "But profligacy is the characteristic of this wretched age."

In 1864, a North London reverend named Gordon Calthrop argued for "happy Christmases" instead of "merry" ones. Not because he was condemning partying, but because he questioned whether merriment actually equaled happiness.

"The boisterous gaiety which many put on, is oftentimes only a mask. It covers a sad—sad face," he said. "True happiness is not a noisy and boisterous, but a quiet thing."

You can call that a hot take. But Calthrop had a point about the connotations. "Merry" typically means some energetic, short-lived expression of cheer—laughing, singing, dancing, clinking beer steins. "Happy" implies deeper contentment and good fortune.

That might explain why people say "merry Christmas and a happy New Year." As in, "I hope you have a really fun Christmas, then after that I hope the new year brings you lasting prosperity."

The British Royals Stuck With "Happy"

Plenty of 19th-century Christians found "merry Christmas" juvenile, irreligious, or inaccurate.

"Merry Christmas is quite the term for the young, but it a little jars upon the ears as life goes on, and we know more of its troubles and sorrows. For myself, I confess that I much prefer the 'Happy Christmas,'" someone wrote in an 1878 parish magazine.

These sentiments were common enough in the UK that by the early 20th century, "Merry Christmas" had gained a bad rap as an Americanism. "I send you of course the greetings of the season: Merry Christmas (a foolish American wish!) and a Happy New Year," someone wrote to The Catholic Fortnightly Review in 1909.

Then the British royals sealed it. During the monarchy's first-ever Christmas Day message in 1932—written by Rudyard Kipling and broadcast over radio to the entire empire—George V wished everyone a happy Christmas. George VI continued the tradition during his reign, as did Elizabeth II. Their Christmas Day broadcasts made it clear that "Happy Christmas" was high society's greeting of choice.

Some royal family members do say "Merry Christmas" these days. But "Happy Christmas" is still more British.

So, there you go. Same holiday, different greetings, all because of some 19th-century cultural preferences that stuck around.

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