Almost every language has a word for 'Christmas.' Few reference Christ.

A linguistic tour of holiday sayings, from Feliz Navidad to Mele Kalikimaka...

Is it possible to wish someone a merry Christmas without Christ?
(Image credit: GraphicaArtis/Corbis)

¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël! Frohe Weihnachten! God Jul! Sretan Božić! Crăciun fericit! Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!

How do you keep the Christ in Christmas if your language doesn't have a Christ in it to begin with?

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James Harbeck

James Harbeck is a professional word taster and sentence sommelier (an editor trained in linguistics). He is the author of the blog Sesquiotica and the book Songs of Love and Grammar.