Merry Christmas...(OT-ish)

[Christine]

No: HPFGUIDX 6609

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Pam Scruton" <Pam at b...> wrote:
> Neil wrote
>  
> > As far as I'm aware, most British people would say "Merry 
> Christmas" and
> > "Happy New Year" (...or "Bah, Humbug
> 
> Yeah - it's the Christmas/New Year combination that's the killer.  
On 
> Christmas Day my family would usually say 'Happy Christmas' to each 
> other and everyone else.  BUT my late father was a church choir 
> master during my youth (40 years ago).  When the choir went out 
carol 
> singing round the local hospital, residential care homes etc. it 
was 
> Dad who had to do all the speaking on behalf of the choir, 
including 
> the Merry/Happy Christmas bit - usually many, many times during the 
> course of an evening. 
> 
> For a few years Dad used to get really fed up because he was 
forever 
> starting with "We wish you all the Happiest of Christmases" and 
then 
> he was stuck with either having to repeat Happy for the New Year or 
> saying Merry New Year - which really doesn't sound right.  So one 
> year he made a conscious decision not to say Happy or Merry but to 
> wish everyone "Compliments of the Season".   Later that phrase 
became 
> the absolutely only one appropriate to a multicultural society and 
> the many different faiths/societies holding traditional holidays at 
> this time of year.  
> 
> However, it upset my mum because it's rather too big to write in 
> icing on the top of a cake!
> 
> Pam

Just my two cents...

I had always thought that you say Merry X-mas before the 24th and 
then Happy X-mas the 24th and onwards (only for a few days though;-}

Christine