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Why Do We Say “Merry Christmas” but “Happy” Everything Else?

Today, we use “ merry” for Christmas the way we use “happy” for any other holiday, but the words themselves technically don’t have the exact same meaning. While “happy” suggests a more general emotional state of joy, “merry” can imply that there’s a bit of raucous revelry afoot. And before the 18th century, you could hear both “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Christmas.”

But then, in the 18th century, “merry” started to tip the scales, largely thanks to one man: Charles Dickens.

“Merry Christmas” was the phrase of choice in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a work that would have a major influence on the modern English-speaking world’s perception of Christmas.

【延伸阅读朗读版已更新在公众号“可可英语晨读”】免费领取600+期精美双语打印版讲义、加入晨读打卡学习群，微信关注“可可英语晨读”公众号，win the morning，win the day！