[ As a person whose first language isn't English, I think it would not be very awkward on my part to ask this question ]

So, why do we call Christmas as Merry Christmas while New Year is always Happy New Year.

I think it is because at Christmas we "make merry", which means have a jolly fun time, eat lots and party. "Happy" refers to the hopes that the New Year will bring happiness to all.

I think we make merry on lot many festivals, especially here in India. So, I see it's not at all compulsory for Christmas to be always Merry; I can call Happy Christmas and Merry New Year, can't I?

As an Indian, I can say HAPPY Divali, HAPPY Durga Puja etc, and also there are Happy Thanksgiving and stuff like that. I don't think all these completely symbolise hopes, Ren. And, if they do, then Christmas too arises hopes. Why not Happy Christmas then?

I really think there is no such rule.

Ankur, Happy Christmas and Merry Christmas are both perfectly correct.
Merry New Year is not, however, as the greeting applies to a wish that someone will be happy during the coming new year, and does not allude to making merry as the New Year comes in.We just never would say "Merry New Year" at all. I assure you, they are not interchangeable and have subtle but very definite differences in meaning.

MERRY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
It might not be politically or grammatically correct.to wish you all
BUT WHO CARES!

I wish you all , all you wish for yourselves, in the coming year.

Nevertheless, Ankur, it is incorrect to say Merry New Year, and I hope you realise that Fosse is joking here, when he uses it.
Happy New Year to all.Here may I stress that I hope it is a year when we continue to uphold standards of grammar, spelling and presentation here at FT.
(edited to correct punctuation.)

That was some healthy information from the English teacher. At least, healthy for me .

Thought I'd say - Merry and Happy New Year . That'll solve the problem .

Forgive my spelling but this might be near it in Hindi??
Nayee Saal Kee Badhi hoo!
I had to look up the Gujurati though:
Nutan Varsha Bhib Nandan
Feel free to correct me!!

Ankur (and Ren), after a lot of research - it would appear that in general usage "Happy" is the general term for single holidays or festivals (Happy birthday, Happy Easter, Happy Diwali etc...) Merry (whilst having a general dictionary definition of being for any festivity) is only usually used in the UK for Christmas (and I can't think of, or find, any other occasion where it's used). Grammatically you can use either word and it will make sense BUT there are times when the English Language doesn't make any sense whatsoever and Christmas is one of them.
Oxford English Dictionary - Merry - Meaning No 4 - 1596
although I prefer Meaning No 3 (d) 1575!

Ankur - next year wish everybody a "Happy Holiday" and you won't upset anyone (In my multi-racial city there are many who don't celebrate Christmas but have celebrated Diwali, Eid, Hanuka etc....)

Saying it again -

I Hope 2004 brings you all whatever you wish for for yourselves.

How about this: Happy New Year is a foreshortened version of "Have a Happy New Year." Wishing someone a Merry Christmas pertains only to that holiday, whereas Happy New Year means the whole year. If you wished someone to "Have a Happy New Year," it would pertain only to the first part of the year, the "new" part.
Hey, it's a thought.

Maybe not so clearly, but this is what I said in the first place, but was told this was not true, and it didn't matter anyway.

Quote:

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It might not be politically or grammatically correct.to wish you all (A Merry New Year)
BUT WHO CARES!

---

Well, I do for one.We were originally asked about it by an EAL student, who wanted to learn what was correct. To reply to the effect that it doesn't really matter as long as the meaning is understood, is inappropriate and irresponsible , in my opinion. If I ask what is correct , I do not then expect to be told what is not. We, as NETs (Native English Speakers) have a responsibility to point out what should or should not be said. I agree that in some instances it is better for the EAL student to try to say something even if it is incorrect, rather than not practice at all, but this was a specific question asked in the forum. So the truth should be told, and yes, I AM "upset" that this was not done. In fact, I would suggest that, as Ankur asked a question and was given an incorrect and misleading answer, he deserves an apology here.
As a professional educator it gets me rather peeved to have people who don't know answers, but put their opinions anyway to genuine questions on such an important question as use of English. I spend many frustrating lessons sorting out incorrect use, where students have gained information from dubious sources. English is my job. I do not ever go to a doctor and tell him what my diagnosis is, what my medicine should be etc. Please may I make a plea for people, especially admins to hold back on giving out incorrect knowledge unless they have checked? The standard of English among learners nowadays is at an all time low, mostly because of wannabe teachers who are afraid to say "No, that is wrong, you say it like this, you construct it like this etc." Most students accept it. I know that my students prefer to be told they were in error, rather than be told it doesn't matter as long as you try. Yes ,try, by all means, but errors should always be corrected. Right?
Now we are going to get people posting in here to say "Lighten up, this is FUN trivia" Yes, it is, but some aspects of a site like this are that people ask for real help and should be given real answers. I am the first to make light of a genuinely trivial subject. The correct use of English when help was requested is not one of those. Rant finished.

The purpose of the original poster in this thread was for education - Ankur asked what the proper English phrasing is. My guess is that he (you're a he, aren't you?) was trying to learn something new and improve his English. As such, Ren's response was correct; she explained it to him so that he could learn something about the language.

Whether, in everyday use, we use phrases or words incorrectly is irrelevant; we all know that idioms and "laziness of speech" occur in all languages when we're letting our hair down. However, that wasn't the purpose of the thread.

All that to say that Ankur did as he should have in asking a question to learn something new. And, Ren did as she should have in giving the proper answer.

Thank you, Linda and Ren. I was really looking for a knowledgeable reply.

I have got a SpellCheck loaded on this Internet Explorer, and every time I make a reply, I feel a need to check if I am wrong on part of spellings. I do feel I've improved a lot on FT. But, sincerely, it's not always possible for me to point out if someone has written or answered something wrongly. So, I tend to grab what is written there, without knowing how correct it it.

I'd repeat what Ren said, there has got to be something to differentiate when a person is serious and when's not! May be, humour should be specified in making replies under topics like this.