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Monday, December 27, 2021

Merry or Happy

                            Merry or Happy Christmas?

Do you realize at the end of T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house... ends with A Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night?  It is not a Merry Christmas.

Queen Elizabeth of England does not want to be wished a Merry Christmas.  She prefers a Happy Christmas.  Why?

Merry was the word used for the peasants and lower class of people.  It implied riotous, behavior, and drinking.  The word happy was for the elite and more sedate behaving aristocrats, the upper-crust of society who would behave in a proper manner.

The first record of Merry Christmas may have been in 1534 when a bishop wrote a letter to Thomas Cromwell and ended it with Merry Christmas.  Could the good bishop be sending a message to Mr. Cromwell?  And how about Mr. Scrooge's nephew when he wished his Uncle Scrooge, Merry Christmas?

Perhaps, we should wish people a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year.

It seems many people behave that way now.  Just a thought.

1 comment:

  1. I was brought up with Happy Christmas but Merry Christmas sounds like a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete

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