Cheerful Christmas and Happy Christmas

           Cheerful Christmas and Happy Christmas 

We wish individuals an 'Upbeat Birthday', and in case you're in the USA in November and December you may state 'Merry Christmas', so for what reason do we say 'Cheerful Christmas' more frequently than 'Glad Christmas'?!


Saying 'Joyful Christmas' instead of 'Cheerful Christmas' appears to return a few hundred years. It's previously recorded in 1534 when John Fisher (an English Catholic Bishop during the 1500s) composed it in a Christmas letter to Thomas Cromwell: "And this our Lord God send you a merry Christmas, and an agreeable, to your profound longing."


There's additionally the ditty "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" which goes back to the sixteenth century in England. It originates from the West Country in England and it was first distributed in the structure we know it today in 1760.


In the English language of the time, the expression 'Rest You Merry' didn't mean basically to be glad; 'rest' signified "to keep, cause to proceed to remain" and 'cheerful' could signify "wonderful, abundant, prosperous". So you could compose the mainline as "[May] God keep you and keep on making you fruitful and prosperous, Gentlemen" however that would be difficult to sing!


The comma in the expression ought to be AFTER the 'joyful' not BEFORE it! In any case, it's regularly put after the cheerful which changes the significance to make 'joyful Gentleman' thus a 'Happy Christmas'!


The term 'Happy Christmas' strengths well have been made extremely mainstream in 1843 from two unique sources.


The primary Christmas Card, sent in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole, had this wording on it: "A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You".

The First Christmas Card

"Firstchristmascard". Authorized under Public Domain by means of Wikimedia Commons


A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was additionally distributed in 1843 and the expression 'Joyful Christmas' seems multiple times in the book! Charles Dickens additionally cited "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" in A Christmas Carol, however, transformed it to: "God favors you, the cheerful man of honor! May nothing you alarm!" moving the comma to before the joyful!


The Carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas [and a Happy New Year]" is another old ditty from the 'West Country' (South West England) however was just originally distributed in 1935 and this most likely affirmed the utilization of 'Cheerful Christmas' over 'Upbeat Christmas'.