Why "Happy Holidays"? The expression is inane.
No it's not, particularly not if you live in a 50% Jewish area, like I grew up in (and I was Lutheran). Should I forcefully wish a "Merry Christmas" to people like my friends the Goldbergs who I know for a fact only celebrate Hanukkah?
Happy Holidays is a way of wishing good cheer to people when you don't know what they celebrate. It includes Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and whatever else people may celebrate this time of year.
When someone wishes me "Happy Holidays", I interpret it as "Merry Christmas" since that's what I practice. And when I greet my Christian friends, I wish them Merry Christmas. And when I see my Jewish friends, I wish them Happy Hannukkah. And when I see people whose religious views I'm unfamiliar with I wish them Happy Holidays.
I completely don't understand why people have their panties in such a knot about this. Don't we have far more important things to quibble about than an annual greeting, the form of which is ticking off the politically correct on BOTH sides of the issue?
LQ
I don't think it's inane. It represents a number of holidays. For me, it incorporates Hannukah, Kwanzaa and New Years. Usually, I am in too much of a hurry to say all that, or to ask someone, which they prefer.