Merry or Happy Christmas- Who IBU?

[bumpertobumper]

I have always said Happy Christmas, but DS2 , who is 10, has taken to 'correcting' me and DH every time to Merry Christmas.
To me Merry is only to be used when also saying happy new year so as to avoid the repetition. He insists Merry is the 'right' thing to say.
So Mumsnet jury, who is right...?

I would say Merry rather than Happy

Merry

Neither, it's the same thing.

Merry Christmas may be more traditional but Happy Christmas has been around for a long time too. See the 50-year old John and Yoko number.

I use both, possibly merry Christmas more

Happy Christmas. Apparently it used to be the more common greeting til A Christmas Carol was published which uses Merry Christmas frequently.

The Queen says Happy Christmas

No one is in charge of this - there's no 'right' answer

Either! Both are absolutely fine!

My mother goes on about this every December. I tend to say Happy, because I don't really want people to be Merry at Christmas (with a family of alcoholics), I want them to be Happy. I don't massively care but since she's started making a massive fuss about it (about 5 years ago), I now say Happy exclusively.

Both are absolutely fine. ‘Happy’ was more common until Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, which popularised ‘Merry’, but there is no right or wrong way.

Merry

Why is this a thing this year?! This is the 3rd thread I've read about this and I don't think I've ever noticed anyone debating the merits of Happy Christmas before.

They are the same, but I like merry because when else do we use it?

I always say Happy Christmas

Both are fine, the U person is the one who insists on telling other people they are wrong.

It doesn’t matter. They’re both fine.

'Merry' is the norm in most of the anglosphere. 'Happy' later caught on in the UK because getting merry/drunk was seen as a lower class thing to so, then it slowly slipped into general usage.

'Happy' doesnt sound right to me, but either is fine really.

@Janonomouse

'Merry' is the norm in most of the anglosphere. 'Happy' later caught on in the UK because getting merry/drunk was seen as a lower class thing to so, then it slowly slipped into general usage.

'Happy' doesnt sound right to me, but either is fine really.

Merry is much more popular in the US. In the UK however, happy has the edge.

I tend to say Happy over Merry, but I'm in the minority among my family and friends.

In the USA they only say Merry Christmas these days, but in the UK we say both.

Has he ever read "Twas the night before Christmas"? It ends with "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!"

I say 'Happy' but I've noticed more abs more people saying 'merry' in the last few years! I'm originally from Ireland and when I was growing up it was always 'happy', I always thought 'merry' was what the Americans said 🤷🏻‍♀️

Both are obviously ok but my family have always said merry. Happy christmas sounds ever so slightly off to my ears.

No one's right, no one's wrong.

They're both right, they're both cheery. They're interchangeable. I use both and I have been wished both. No difference.

The only thing I'd say is that Merry feels/comes more naturally to me, bit that's obviously very subjective.