Work today took me to my client's Coventry office. It provided a chance to wish all a Happy Christmas. In the UK, unlike Canada, you often hear the term "Happy" used instead of "Merry," although either is quite acceptable to use. It is said that the Queen wishes everyone a Happy Christmas because "merry" may imply an encouragement of a tipple or two, and so the phrase has taken hold.
It's also interesting to note that in the UK neither Happy or Merry Christmas have been replaced by any more "politically correct" greeting such as "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings." In fact, people in the UK will use the greeting even if they are not Christian...it is used as a seasonal greeting in its own right. No one gets offended if you're having a Christmas party or a Christmas sale.
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| Source: Daily Mail |
And while you travel around being greeting with wishes for a Happy Christmas, you also find that you can't go anywhere without being offered a mince pie...I had three last week, and I turned some down! We serve mincemeat in Canada, but not to the extend it's served here. I read somewhere that 10,000 mince pies are eaten here every 60 seconds. Originally they did contain meat, but today are dried fruit and spices...and brandy. In the Middle Ages it was said that if you ate a mince pie every day from Christmas to Twelfth Night (January 5), you would have a prosperous New Year...you'd certainly have a clean colon.
And how do you wash that down? Mulled wine (or cider)....think all the spices in mincemeat added to the alcoholic mix. Easy to see how you start to associate the scent of cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon ... and alcohol ... with Christmas and crave the resulting tastes.
Try as the Queen might, with traditions as strong as these (figuratively and alcoholically), she'll never take the "Merry" out of Christmas.
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