Leaving aside the obvious dearth of questions about the person whose birth Christmas celebrates, two other issues:
Epiphany is January 6.
The feast of St. Stephen is December 26, and the feast of St. John the Apostle is December 27. You probably have Stephen for both because Eastern Christians celebrate his feast on December 27. Maybe add John as another type-in?
I agree, the name Christmas is so insensitive to people who want to sell things around that time of year but have no interest in who the celebration is for. The name should have been changed and when that soft-drink company told us what colours santa should wear.
Historically... going back far enough... the celebration was not for Jesus. It's a pagan holiday dressed up as a Roman Catholic one. Jesus certainly didn't celebrate Christmas. None of his disciples did. No early Christians (1st century) did. Though the holiday was being celebrated at the time it just was definitely not a Jewish or Christian holiday. Later on, as mentioned in the quiz, Christmas has been outlawed by many practicing Christians who were aware of the holiday's tenuous connection to the religion.
Anyway the holiday is not "for" anyone. It might mean different things to different people but realistically it's just the celebration of the winter solstice and those traditions stretch back to long before Christ was born.
You mean Jesus didn't celebrate his own birth and put up a Christmas tree and get presents from Santa? I find that very hard to believe and it goes against my beliefs. Were you there? Do you know for sure that Joseph and Mary didn't have a Christmas Tree? Haven't you read the bible?
Happy Holidays was used long before there was any PC crap. Andy Williams had a hit song in the early 60's entitled "Happy Holidays". Most folks use HH because they encompass the whole season which includes New Years and Hannukah.
^Americans seem to use 'holiday' as a word for particular days ('holy days' I suppose?) whereas other varieties of English use it more in the sense of the American 'vacation'
But Orthodox Christmas is January 7th. And if Quizmaster was for some reason going to accept the Spanish name for Three Kings Day, it would be Día de los Reyes Magos", not just "Los Reyes".
I've always known it as Three Kings Day. Please accept this as a type-in. I really enjoyed this quiz by the way, even though I usually avoid Xmas like the plague!
Kalbahamut is absolutely correct! Christmas is a pagan holiday, and Christ did not order his apostles to celebrate his birth. Besides, he wasn't even born in December, but in October/late September.
Nobody knows what time of year Jesus was actually born. We don't have any evidence and it doesn't say in the Bible (although the Bible isn't an accurate account of Jesus' life in many other respects).
TWM03: Jesus was arrested, tried and executed when he was 33 and a half years old. His arrest occurred almost immediately after he celebrated the Jewish Passover with his apostles. The Jewish Passover is typically celebrated in April or late March. Counting six months from April brings you to October and counting six months from March brings you to September. Therefore, he was born in either of those two months.
As far as I remember, the winter solstice was co-opted by early(ish) Christians on the basis of it being symbolic of Jesus' bringing light into the world. I don't think anyone ever had any idea of it being actually the anniversary of his birth. Just as Good Friday isn't the anniversary of his death, otherwise we'd have to believe that the anniversary is on a different day each year... But the fact that it's not his actual anniversary doesn't mean Christmas isn't, at least partly, a celebration his birth. That's a bit like saying that England has nothing to do with the English because the Ancient Britons were there first.
Yule came before Christmas and is celebrated on either the 21st or 22nd of December. If you asked a viking celebrating Yule what Christmas was, they'd be very confused.
Happy holidays isn't a 'politically correct' version of Merry Christmas, it's been used in conjunction with the other phrase for years and years. I mean I'm pretty sure we all know the Bing Crosby song by the same name that was a massive Christmas hit before PC was even a term on anyone's radar. Framing it as a pc alternative seems revisionist.
This is correct. It only became politically correct because people who make a lot of money off sowing discord turned it into a rallying point. Like those stupid fights over Starbucks cups. Very sad to see. I think the clue is fine though, because now it is perceived as political correctness.
"Happy Holidays" being portrayed as a politically correct version of "Merry Christmas" is simply wrong. As as been said, the phrase was in use long before political correctness was a thing. There are like 3821 different holidays celebrated at the same time of year. "Happy Holidays" acknowledges that, acknowledges that the speaker doesn't know the listener's religious beliefs, and wishes them well regardless of what those beliefs are. It is a distinctly different and more inclusive phrase. I know this could be seen as nitpicky, but I'd change the clue. Maybe "What all-encompassing holiday greeting commonly used in the U.S. includes the above?" Or "What holiday greeting popularized by the 1930s has recently been rebranded by some as a "politically correct" version of the above?"
I think the clue is fine as is. I completely agree with you, but also the clue already has the term "politically correct" in quotation marks, implying "Happy Holidays" is common perceived as PC when it actually isn't.
In a similar vein though, couldn't "Merry Xmas" also work as a "politically correct" version of "Merry Christmas"?
Obviously you don't know the unique feeling of regret you get after waking up and realizing you slept with your coworker after the office Saturnalia party.
The language barrier is sometimes so annoying! English isn’t my first language, so I know St. Stephen as Tapani and on January 6th we celebrate loppiainen. But I had no idea what those are in English
Epiphany is January 6.
The feast of St. Stephen is December 26, and the feast of St. John the Apostle is December 27. You probably have Stephen for both because Eastern Christians celebrate his feast on December 27. Maybe add John as another type-in?
Anyway the holiday is not "for" anyone. It might mean different things to different people but realistically it's just the celebration of the winter solstice and those traditions stretch back to long before Christ was born.
Born on Christmas Day
In a similar vein though, couldn't "Merry Xmas" also work as a "politically correct" version of "Merry Christmas"?