Christmas Party 2019
by Jorg Fedler
He didn't come in person
but then he was there in our hearts and memories. Father Christmas delegated his job to our tireless hard working organizers who made sure that the christmas dinner ticked all the right boxes. Having a Christmas party and dinner in pleasant surroundings is the ice on the cake. Val and Harry Leftwitch made sure about that. We dined, relaxed and actively socialized again in the Seachange community hall at Emerald Lakes where we have been many times before.
Some History
What is the common phrase in Great Britain - Happy Christmas or Merry Christmas?
The posh middle-class in Victorian England associated the word merry with being slightly intoxicated.
So they clung on to Happy Christmas – and it has remained the more popular of the two in Britain ever since.
The Queen has only ever said Merry Christmas four times in over 60 Christmas broadcasts.
Happy definitely rules the empire.
With kind permission
(https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/qa-merry-christmas-vs-happy-christmas)
Merry Christmas began as a saying in the 1500s. It was recorded in a letter as
a wish that God would send the recipient a mery Christmas. It was solidified
as a capitalized greeting by Charles Dickens in his great work A Christmas Carol.
Queen Elizabeth II, for whatever reason, did not use Dickens’ phrase. Instead,
she used the phrase Happy Christmas in her annual Christmas broadcasts.
After her use, the term gained popularity and is still the most common
form in Great Britain and Ireland.
With kind permission
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-in-England-say-Happy-Christmas-but-it-s-Merry-Christmas-in-the-US-When-did-practice-diverge
In Australia it is primarily Merry because it’s hot, often VERY hot. That requires copious amounts
of cold liquids to ensure that you stay well hydrated. In our ancient traditions the words
are therefore normally accompanied by an offer of a cold libation. Hence MERRY Christmas (hic!).
Fortunately we have a bunch of extremely enthusiastic cops who pretty much ensure that the Merry
is kept off the roads, by breath testing everyone in sight on a regular basis.
We live in a village of fewer than 500 people, and on Christmas Eve went into our 'big' town of 5,000 people.
There was a police breath testing operation set up testing EVERY person who passed them. SEVEN carloads of
them were waving drivers off the road and asking them to breathe or count into the machine.
A typical exchange was - COP: “G’day, just doin’ a bit of breath testing, have ya had a drink lately?”
No I hadn’t, so I counted to five. COP: “Thanks for that, have a good one” PLUS a big smile.
Our road toll has dropped by 66% since the 1970’s when they first started compulsory breath testing,
while our population has more than doubled. Good call, I think?
For those Americans who think we have “lost our rights” (I keep getting told that when in the USA,
they don’t seem to realise that our cops are nice, polite and friendly and it’s over in 30 seconds) -
bear in mind we have the right to drive in relative safety and are NEVER subjected to the ridiculous
roadside gymnastics some American cops use.
With kind permission
https://www.quora.com
Happy (Merry) Christmas
Jorg
