Where Did The Saying Merry Christmas Come From
Christmas christian festival celebrating the birth of jesus the english term christmas mass on christ s day is of fairly recent origin.
Where did the saying merry christmas come from. The earlier term yule may have derived from the germanic jōl or the anglo saxon geōl which referred to the feast of the winter solstice the corresponding terms in other languages navidad in spanish natale in italian noël in french all. Charles ii 1630 1685 was known as the merry monarch a reference to his lifestyle many mistresses and his annulment of the puritan laws instituted by cromwell. The use of merry christmas as a seasonal salutation dates back to at least 1565 when it appeared in the hereford municipal manuscript hereford is a county in the uk and thus i comytt you to. The christmas time greeting merry christmas came from an english admiral in 1699.
A few years ago on christmas morning a greek orthodox person i once knew texted everyone saying that the words merry christmas are not orthodox and so not to say them i was once orthodox thats why he sent them to me i remember saying merry christmas to people when i first went to orthodoxy and they wouldnt reply to me i think in italian the words buon natale are similar to what the. He used merry christmas and a happy new year in an informal letter. Christmas has been celebrated since the. But have you ever stopped to wonder where the phrase.
The word merry was then beginning to take on its current meaning of jovial and outgoing and let s face it probably mildly intoxicated. December 25 is just around the corner and you ve no doubt been sending merry christmas wishes to everyone from your grocery store cashier to your friends and family members.