MARRY CHRISTMAS

Holiday greetings are a selection of greeting that are often spoken with good intentions to strangers, family, or friends, in nations around the world, during the months of December and January.Holidays with greetings include Christmast, New Year's Day, Chinese New Year, Thanksgiving (United States), and Hanukkah. Some greetings are more prevalent than others, depending on the cultural and religious status of any given area.The greetings and farewells "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Christmas" are traditionally used in North America, the United Kingdom, Irelandand Australia, commencing a few weeks prior to Christmas December 25 of every year.The phrase is often preferred when it is known that the receiver is a Christian or celebrates Christmas. The nonreligious often use the greeting as well, however in this case its meaning focuses more on the secular aspects of Christmas, rather than the Nativity of Jesus.Its meanings and variations are:As "Merry Christmas," the traditionally used greeting for those from America and the UK, composed of merry (jolly, happy) and Christmas (Old English: Cristes mæsse, for Christ's Mass).As "Merry Xmas," usually used to avoid the length of "Merry Christmas," with the "X" (sometimes controversially) replacing "Christ." (seeXmas)As "Happy Christmas," an equivalent that is commonly used in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as "Merry Christmas."As of 2005, "Merry Christmas" remains popular among countries with large Christian populations, including: the United States; Canada; the United Kingdom; Ireland; Australia; South Africa; Mexico; and Western Europe not affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox rites.It remains popular in the largely non-Christian nations of People's Republic of China and Japan, where Christmas is celebrated primarily due to Western cultural influences. Though it has somewhat decreased in popularity in the United States and Canada over the past decades, polls from 2005 indicate that it remains more popular than "Happy Holidays" or other alternatives.