Holidays Greetings include Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays and Happy Thanksgiving
Holiday greetings are a selection of greetings that are often spoken with good intentions to strangers, family, friends, or other people during the months of December and January. Holidays with greetings include Christmas, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving (in the USA), and (more recently) Hanukkah, Ramadan, and Kwanzaa in the United States. Some greetings are more prevalent than others, depending on the cultural and religious status of any given area.
Typically, a greeting consists of the word "Happy" followed by the holiday, such as "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy New Year", although the phrase "Merry Christmas" is a notable exception. When one wishes to convey a greeting to another regardless of which particular holiday the other may personally observe, the collective phrase "Happy Holidays" is often used as a simple way to refer to all of the winter holidays, or to the three major American holidays of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day. However, some controversy has aroused regarding the phrase "Happy Holidays" as an alleged attempt to diminish Christmas.
Merry/Happy Christmas - The greetings and farewells "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Christmas" are traditionally used in North America, the United Kingdom, and Ireland beginning a few weeks prior to the Christmas holiday on December 25 of every year. "Merry" dominates in the United States; "happy" in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The phrase is often proffered when it is known that the receiver is a Christian or celebrates Christmas. In the beginning of the 21st century, as Christians in increasingly multi-cultural societies continue becoming more sensitive to and respectful of non-Christians and non-Christian faiths, the phrase has become somewhat less ubiquitous than it was in the 20th century. (However, the commercialization of the actual holiday continues unabated.) The nonreligious sometimes use the greeting as well, however in this case its meaning focuses more on the secular aspects of Christmas, rather than the Nativity of Jesus.
As of 2005, this greeting still remains popular among countries with large Christian populations, including, among others, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Mexico. It also remains popular in non-Christian areas such as the People's Republic of China and Japan, where Christmas is still widely celebrated due to Western influences. Though it has somewhat decreased in popularity in the United States and Canada over the past decades, polls from 2005 indicate that it is more popular than "Happy Holidays" or other alternatives.
History of the phrase - "Merry", derived from the Old English myrige, originally meant merely "pleasant" rather than joyous or jolly (as in the phrase "merry month of May").
Though Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th century AD, the first known usage of any Christmastime greeting, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" (thus incorporating two greetings) was in an informal letter written by an English admiral in 1699. The same phrase appeared in the first Christmas card, produced in England in 1843, and in the popular secular carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
The then relatively new term "Merry Christmas" figured prominently in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in 1843. The cynical Ebenezer Scrooge rudely deflects the friendly greeting and broods on the foolishness of those who utter it. "If I could work my will", says Scrooge, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding." After the Spirits of Christmas effect his transformation, he is able to heartily exchange the wish with all he meets. The continued popularity of A Christmas Carol and the Victorian era Christmas traditions it typifies have led some to credit Dickens with popularizing, or even originating, the phrase "Merry Christmas".
The alternative "Happy Christmas" gained wide usage in the late 19th century, and is still common in the United Kingdom and Ireland. One reason may be the alternative meaning, still current there, of "merry" as "tipsy" or "drunk". Queen Elizabeth II is said to prefer "Happy Christmas" for this reason. In American poet Clement Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (1823), the final line, originally written as "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night", has been changed in many editions to "Merry Christmas to all", perhaps indicating the relative popularity of the phrases in the United States.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Relax in the Spirit of Christmas, Tips On How To Make Your Holiday More Relaxed And Enjoyable
Gift wrap and holiday sales, parking lots and tree lots, traveling and spending: it can all be too much. Many consumers are reporting the holidays are less and less enjoyable and more and more stressful these days. We have to wonder -- is it self-imposed? Why are people pushing themselves so hard to achieve the "perfect" holiday? And how is it they continue to miss that perfection no matter how hard they try -- no mater how much they spend? Perhaps it's that they have forgotten Christmas doesn't come in a box. Perhaps they've lost track of the true spirit of the holidays. Perhaps they are trying to purchase a spirit that was never for sale to begin with. It has always just been there for the asking.
Christmas isn't about setting a perfect table or outdoing the neighbors and the in-laws, Christmas should be about family, friends, hearth, and home. And it's not what we give or what we receive that makes Christmas special; it's how we connect with and appreciate our homes and our loved ones. Yes. Easier said than done. So, how do we step back from the hustle and bustle? Here are a few tips to make your holiday more relaxed and enjoyable:
Simplify:
We add so much weight to our lives -- Christmas is no exception -- overextending ourselves, trying be all things to all people. Maybe it's time to forget getting a separate meaningful gift for every member of the PTA. The advent of the gift card is a wonderful opportunity for simplification. If you are a purist and can't bear to give an electronic gift card, giving everyone in a group the same tasteful knickknack or charm may be the way to go. For the holiday table, don't feel the need to be super-host or -hostess. Instant mashed potato mixes have come a long way in recent years and most supermarkets now have full bakeries to supply traditional pies. Make no apologies. Just embrace the spirit of Christmas and your guests will taste the love -- even in a pre-baked ham.
Take time out:
Remember to smell the pine needles. The most important step to relaxation is forcing ourselves stop and do it. Forget about addressing all those cards for a while, put on a Christmas album, light a candle, turn on the tree lights and enjoy. A fantastic way to get into the holiday spirit is to take a few minutes to quietly meditate on what Christmas means -- why we give and receive, the tradition, the fun. Fill your mind with happy memories and honest warm wishes and the Christmas spirit will shine from you all season long.
Remember:
Pass on the traditions that you love. Giving a gift is one thing -- it may last a year or two, or even a lifetime -- but a tradition will live on for generations to come. Switch your focus from the material to the enduring simple pleasures. Your children will not soon forget the lesson. Tell stories about happy holidays past. Sing songs with your children. Include them in your holiday crafts. Remind yourself and others of the traditions you embraced, even if you can't recreate them every year. Make the holiday about the past and the future.
Don't sweat it:
Finally, as they say, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Do what you enjoy and do it all with gusto. But at the end of the day, make sure the details never become more important than the spirit of the holiday itself. Don't forget, no kid ever grew up wanting the perfect parent, just a loving one. Make love and togetherness your focus and let the details fall where they may.
So much of the stress that we carry is within our power to let go. Let's do ourselves a favor and "make time to take time" -- to remember what is truly important. Protecting our minds from materialism is as simple as changing our focus to the pure and enduring ideals of the holiday. And who knows, perhaps we'll all have a bit merrier Christmas
Christmas isn't about setting a perfect table or outdoing the neighbors and the in-laws, Christmas should be about family, friends, hearth, and home. And it's not what we give or what we receive that makes Christmas special; it's how we connect with and appreciate our homes and our loved ones. Yes. Easier said than done. So, how do we step back from the hustle and bustle? Here are a few tips to make your holiday more relaxed and enjoyable:
Simplify:
We add so much weight to our lives -- Christmas is no exception -- overextending ourselves, trying be all things to all people. Maybe it's time to forget getting a separate meaningful gift for every member of the PTA. The advent of the gift card is a wonderful opportunity for simplification. If you are a purist and can't bear to give an electronic gift card, giving everyone in a group the same tasteful knickknack or charm may be the way to go. For the holiday table, don't feel the need to be super-host or -hostess. Instant mashed potato mixes have come a long way in recent years and most supermarkets now have full bakeries to supply traditional pies. Make no apologies. Just embrace the spirit of Christmas and your guests will taste the love -- even in a pre-baked ham.
Take time out:
Remember to smell the pine needles. The most important step to relaxation is forcing ourselves stop and do it. Forget about addressing all those cards for a while, put on a Christmas album, light a candle, turn on the tree lights and enjoy. A fantastic way to get into the holiday spirit is to take a few minutes to quietly meditate on what Christmas means -- why we give and receive, the tradition, the fun. Fill your mind with happy memories and honest warm wishes and the Christmas spirit will shine from you all season long.
Remember:
Pass on the traditions that you love. Giving a gift is one thing -- it may last a year or two, or even a lifetime -- but a tradition will live on for generations to come. Switch your focus from the material to the enduring simple pleasures. Your children will not soon forget the lesson. Tell stories about happy holidays past. Sing songs with your children. Include them in your holiday crafts. Remind yourself and others of the traditions you embraced, even if you can't recreate them every year. Make the holiday about the past and the future.
Don't sweat it:
Finally, as they say, "Don't sweat the small stuff." Do what you enjoy and do it all with gusto. But at the end of the day, make sure the details never become more important than the spirit of the holiday itself. Don't forget, no kid ever grew up wanting the perfect parent, just a loving one. Make love and togetherness your focus and let the details fall where they may.
So much of the stress that we carry is within our power to let go. Let's do ourselves a favor and "make time to take time" -- to remember what is truly important. Protecting our minds from materialism is as simple as changing our focus to the pure and enduring ideals of the holiday. And who knows, perhaps we'll all have a bit merrier Christmas
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