2006-12-21 06:11:47 · 4 answers · asked by got_shots 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
Though Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th century AD, the first known usage of any Christmastime greeting, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" (thus incorporating two greetings) was in an informal letter written by an English admiral in 1699. The same phrase appeared in the first Christmas card, produced in England in 1843.
2006-12-21 06:29:20 · answer #1 · answered by Crash 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Merry in old english was myrnge which meant pleasent. Christmas is Christ and Mass put together. A pleasent mass for Christ. Merry Christmas. Using the short form of X in X-mas is from the greek word Xpistouyena pronounced Hrist-ou-yen-a meaning Christ's birth. The X is pronounced H in greek.
2006-12-21 06:49:25 · answer #2 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"Merry," according to Ernest Weekley's "An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English," is a Kentish form of Anglo-Saxon "myrge," which became the Middle English "murie."
"Christmas" is derived from "Christ's Mass," from the Latin "misse," which, translated into English would be "to send," which comes from the final "Ite, misse est," in the Eucharist.
2006-12-21 06:39:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
olde english - chauser's time
2006-12-21 06:19:36 · answer #4 · answered by worldstiti 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋