Map Monday, What happened to Merry Christmas?

When did Season’s greetings become so complicated. When I was a little kid, in the dim and distant past, the default greeting for everyone was ‘Merry Christmas’. Whether you met them on the street or sent them a card (how many still send or receive cards?), it always included a ‘Merry Christmas’. In today’s more diverse, and dare I say sensitive world, things have changed. Western celebrations of Christmas have grown ever more secular and commercial and our language has evolved to fit the times. The formerly ubiquitous ‘Merry Christmas’ now shares time with new greetings.

Alternative Greetings

For the secular or atheists a simple ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Season’s Greetings’ fits the bill. They’re both a bit bland, but can be interpreted as well wishes for those of any belief. If you want to mix it up a bit, as you get closer to the end of December you can substitute ‘Happy New Year’. For practicing Jewish friends, you can go with the simple ‘Happy Hanukkah’. If you want to try a little Hebrew you can say, ‘Hanukkah Sameach’ (Happy Hanukkah) or ‘Chag Sameach’ (Happy Holiday).

Kwanzaa gets a little more complicated. Created by Maulana Karenga in 1966, Kwanzaa is a week long celebration of African heritage in African-American culture. Each day focuses on one of seven core principles. A Kwanzaa greeting reinforces the principals by asking Habari gani? Which is Swahili for, What’s the news? The proper response is the principle of the day, also in Swahili.

Seven Kwanzaa Principles

1st Day:  Umoja (Unity)
2nd Day:  Kujichagulia (Self-Determination)
3rd Day:  Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility)
4th Day:  Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
5th Day:  Nia (Purpose)
6th Day:  Kuumba (Creativity)
7th Day:  Imani (Faith)

Written Greetings Controversy

In addition to issues with verbal greetings, there’s also been controversy over written greetings, specifically the use of Xmas instead of Christmas. Records of its usage (dating to the 12th century) suggest it was a simple contraction. While no one can be certain, the generally accepted origin for the ‘X’ abbreviation focuses on the labarum or Chi-Rho. The labarum is a symbol for Christ formed by the juxtaposition of the Greek letters Chi and Rho (written as ☧). While the labarum is still used, it also became common to express it without the Rho, i.e., as an X.

The usage remained acceptable until the mid-20th century. That’s when groups in the US decided it was blasphemous to take ‘Christ’ out of Christmas. The backlash against the abbreviation nearly drove it out of popular culture. Two bastions of resistance include the TV program Futurama and the board game Monopoly. The Community Chest deck includes a card ‘Xmas Fund Matures Collect $100’.

How to Avoid Trouble

So if you’re sending Christmas (or Holiday) cards to your friends, how do you avoid offending them? Ignoring how best to keep them updated without bragging (too much), how do you sign off in a culturally sensitive way? That’s where Map Monday can help. Our featured map covers the local ‘Merry Christmas’ equivalent for the nations of Europe. It won’t solve all your problems, but it might bring a laugh to some of your friends.

Map of common Christmas Greetings in Europe (courtesy of jakubmarian.com)

Thanks for reading and Feliz Navidad.

Armen

Note to Pay the Bills: While it doesn’t focus on Christmas, the Misaligned series does feature references to Celtic holiday traditions. Underpinned by Welsh mythology, the history of upstate NY and the basic elements of String Theory, the three book series explores the intersection of science and myth. Check out a summary of the series here or find links to purchase books here.