Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Happy Festivus.
With all these different holidays in one season, how do we know what to say? Here’s my policy for getting through winter without offending anyone…
Instead of being totally insensitive of individual beliefs by saying, “Happy Holidays,” greet others with your own holiday greeting. For example, I would say, “Merry Christmas,” but the person I am talking to might reply with, “Happy Hanukkah,” “Happy Kwanzaa,” etc. and I would be totally comfortable with that.
Not only does it invite the recipient to respond with something other than, “you, too,” it also expresses to the world which holiday you in fact celebrate. If you want to get technical, we should all be greeting each other with “Happy Hanukkah” because it is the first holiday in December (chronologically), then “Happy Festivus,” then “Merry Christmas,” and then “Happy Kwanzaa.”
Now, regarding Christmas itself, all efforts should be made for it to remain “Christmas,” not “Xmas.” Without giving you too much of a Bible lesson, Christmas is really a religious holiday—the birth of Jesus Christ. “Xmas” eliminates the roots of the holiday, making it “X-mas” instead of “Christ-mas.” Using “Xmas” completely secularizes the holiday, all because some people are just too lazy to write out the whole word. I understand amusement parks and department stores using the phrase for that very purpose, but just on a regular basis, it shouldn’t “Xmas” shouldn’t be used. And come on, which sounds better “Xmas” or “Christmas”?
Making up a completely different greeting works too, such as “Merry Christmakwanzaakkus.” This is just a simple way to hear various greetings and even encourage some conversation…Merry Christmas!
