How do you wish people goodwill this month?

F.

I don't.

Obviously, this month is one where gift-giving is the norm, whichever holiday you spend.

A lot of retail people are told to say a non-denominational well-wishing phrase as a customer exits the store, but if we are not those retail workers, we have no rules to what we say.

Which brings about this poll. What do you say this month (obviously, this poll naturally excludes those who don't change their vocabulary to fit the times)?

And as an addendum, are you bothered at all when people use a different expression?

With Family - Merry Christmas, because we celebrate Christmas. With strangers, it's just friendliness. I find it hard to NOT be friendly this month.

@JasonR86 said:

F.

I don't.

-- Jason "grinch" R86

:)

my dad worried about this actually, his doctor (who is from india) wished him a happy christmas and he didn't know what he should respond with; I mean it's not like he would've been insulted either way. I usually say happy winter now but that's because winter is the one time of year where the weather is nice here (in las vegas).

@Animasta: Interesting, I never even considered wishing people a happy season. That could even work year round! Also, winter is my favorite season too, despite (or because of?) the snow and cold weather.

@Animasta:

It's true. Whenever I hear about Christmas decorations and how I need to help with them I groan and complain like the world is coming to an end.

@LikeaSsur said:

@Animasta: Interesting, I never even considered wishing people a happy season. That could even work year round! Also, winter is my favorite season too, despite (or because of?) the snow and cold weather.

man I miss snow :(

I also enjoy winter here because people bundle up with heavy coats for 50 degrees, it's hilarious.

@JasonR86 said:

F.

I don't.

-- Jason "grinch" R86

:)

my dad worried about this actually, his doctor (who is from india) wished him a happy christmas and he didn't know what he should respond with; I mean it's not like he would've been insulted either way. I usually say happy winter now but that's because winter is the one time of year where the weather is nice here (in las vegas).

Merry Christmas. Almost everyone from where I live are either christians or athiests, and all of them celebrate Christmas, so I don't think anyone here would get offended by that greeting.

ill keep it low key and just say merry christmas here and there . but come new years eve ill happily bellow HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! like a fucking drunken lunatic , when in reality im only mildly pissed ...

"Alms and tuppence to you and yours, sir! And a blight upon those who seek to cause ill!".

I live in a very rural area, that absolutely believes in the Christian Bible, so I just say Merry Christmas

Seeing as I am Norwegian there isn't really any alternative to what translates out to "merry Christmas".

Working at a restaurant, I automatically go with "Happy Holidays." Not because anyone from higher-up told me to, but because I want to be respectful of whatever Holiday the customer celebrates. Though if a customer wishes me a Merry Christmas, I won't hesitate to respond in kind. Also, if I'm delivering and I see a Christmas Tree or Christmas decorations around their house, I'll wish them a Merry Christmas.

Happy Festivus!

Happy Holidays, but I never initiate a holiday greeting.  Because I have a public service job  I say the same thing everyday, "You're welcome" (If they thanked me), and then "have a great day (weekend,  etc)"  Over the holidays, I stick to that, unless people reveal they want a holiday greeting of some kind.
 
 If someone says, "Merry Christmas"  or "Happy Hanukkah" I say, "Thank you.  And you have a Happy Holiday as well."  If people respond poorly to that I DO NOT CARE.  I am not Carnival Guesser, I don't guess your weight, religion or bra size.

@MonkeyKing1969: I find it weird when people get offended at "Happy Holidays". I even had a teacher in Primary School that would let us make some Christmas cards in class and would lose his shit if we wrote "Merry Xmas", he said we were "Crossing out Christ" (I went to a Catholic school) people can be very touchy at this time of year I've realised.

I would say Merry Christmas just 'cause everyone I meet say it, but if I know someone's religion I would say their greeting instead.

@JasonR86 said:

F.

I don't.

F. For "fuck 'em".

G. "God bless your wallet!"

I don't, but if I somehow get into a situation where something along those lines has to be said I usually say have a good Christmas. Unless I know them personally and know they don't celebrate it.

Where's the "go fuck yourself" option?

Merry Christmas for the family, happy holidays for greeting everyone else. It seems like the neutral ground for the season.

I say Merry Christmas cause it's fucking Christmas time. I go fucking nuts with people who get offended by this shit !!! Christmas has fuck all to do with religion, it's about massive trees in your goddam house and presents for everyone and screaming kids and drinking too much and arguing with your family and someone kicking over the monopoly/poker/whatever board cause they're drunk and they lost (or in the case of monopoly, cause my brother was cheating because he always cheats at monopoly). Its about family, a fairly universal concept. Sometimes I think that the only people who get worry about what to say at Christmas time are white christian americans who celebrate christmas. The rest of the world doesn't give a Fuck. They know it's christmas cause they watch American TV.

I lived in Thailand for a bit, do you think people didn't wish me a happy Songkran cause I wasn't a Thai Buddhist? Of course not, the wished me a happy songkran and then had elephants spray water all over me as I drove down the road on a moped. Did I think it was inconsiderate because I wasn't a buddhist? Of course not, it's one of their national holidays, and a fucking blast. I did think it was incredibly fucking dangerous but that is an entirely different argument.

F. I slap them in the face with a dildo.

I say "Merry Christmas" if I'm just referring to Christmas, and "Happy Holidays" if I'm referring to both Christmas and New Years (or whatever else gets celebrated in that time frame).

@Arabes said:

Of course not, the wished me a happy songkran and then had elephants spray water all over me as I drove down the road on a moped. Did I think it was inconsiderate because I wasn't a buddhist? Of course not, it's one of their national holidays, and a fucking blast. I did think it was incredibly fucking dangerous but that is an entirely different argument.

This sounds awesome.

"Wish people goodwill?"

I chose F for Fuck that.

Hyvää joulua!

I don't celebrate Christmas - just a decision my wife and I have made. It's pretty sweet not having to hang out in malls and buy useless shit for family you see once a year. We're atheist so there's really no point to celebrating the holiday (for traditional reasons that is - I do enjoy spending time with family.)

Saying that, if someone wishes me a "Merry Christmas", I'll reply in kind because it's respectful. If someone wishes me a "Happy Holiday", I'll reply in kind because it's respectful.

Merry Christmas. I'm an atheist but I was raised celebrating Christmas and will continue to do so. I like the idea of people being nice and caring once a year (even though when I work on Christmas some people are still total dicks).

F. Copious amounts of alcohol

Christmas. "Holidays" would be a bit generic since there are about 20 of those in a given year.

I don't leave the house when it's cold unless I really have to. And I'm not one to talk or interact with strangers. So none of them!

Merry Christmas

@LikeaSsur said:

non-denominational well-wishing phrase

I'm going to start saying this

"hey"

EDIT: ...is for horses.

Honestly, I'm a non-believer but i'll say merry Christmas if it seems like the time to say it (i.e. I won't see that person again until after Christmas), or happy Hanukkah if i know that they're Jewish (hasn't that already happened though?). Then again I don't usually go around saying merry Christmas or any of those options that are listed. Christmas to me is basically the same as saying "Winter Solstice" it's just the currently used name of the holiday that's been around long before Jesus. I don't bother arguing about that stupid "war on Christmas bullshit. At this point it's not something worth fighting about (religious symbols in a public square may eventually be a concerning issue, but right now it's not a big deal).

I'll say merry x-mas sometimes too, as a Futurama reference

Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas sounds weird when it's said on any day other than December 25th to me.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

I don't understand why people take offense to that. My bad for celebrating Christmas.

By being nice to them.

I find it works better than a phrase.

Retail worker here too so I stick with the generic "Happy Holidays" if a customer brings it up. I live close enough to the bible belt that I could probably get off with saying Merry Christmas without offending anyone, but eh. Happy Holidays seems to fit my general outlook on the Christmas season, being I'm not the biggest fan of Xmas but I don't wish people a bad one... except for a couple choice individuals.

Happy holidays.

Usually "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays", I don't think it matters that much.

Merry Christmas. I don't think anyone I'm likely to talk to would be offended and I dislike the attempts for everyone to be "politically correct".

If someone said "Happy Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever else during other holidays" to me, I wouldn't care, as long as they mean well.

Why do you guys care so much about this stuff? My country is filled with immigrants from all over the world just like the US and nobody gives two shits about pc greetings or racism or sexism or any of the isms. Nobody here thinks twice about dropping a "Merry Christmas" and we all know what they mean.

I often go with "Happy Holidays" to economize on my word usage cause otherwise I have to also say Happy New Year and a third holiday we have right after that one.

Merry Christmas. It's just the most natural way, for me at least.

A and D, depending on where I am and who I'm with.