You're going to learn a few new ones today. We're going around the globe! Let's start off in Ireland and head south-east to start off.
In Irish, one says: "Nodlaig Shona Dhuit."
The Welsh say: "Nadolig Llawen."
In France, one says: "Joyeux Noel."
Three ways to say, "Merry Christmas" and we've only gone a few hundred miles! And we forgot to say, "Happy Christmas" to the English. We've got to pick up the pace.
In the Spanish-speaking world, one says: "Feliz Navidad."
In Brazil, one says: "Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo."
In Hawaii, the Christmas greeting is "Mele Kalikimaka."
In Portugal, one says: "Feliz Natal."
The Italians say: "Buone Feste Natalizie."
In Denmark, one says: "Glaedelig Jul."
The Dutch say: "Zalig Kerstfeast."
The Finns say "Hyvaa joulua."
In Poland, one says: "Wesolych Swiat Bozego."
In Croatia, one says: "Sretan Bozic."
In Greece, one says, "Kala Christouyenna!"
Phew! That's a lot of languages, and we haven't even completely finished Europe and the Americas yet. But there's no time! We've got other continents to cover.
The Maori of New Zealand say: "Meri Kirhimete."
Speakers of the Chinese Mandarin dialect would say, "Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan". In Cantonese it is, "Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun"
In Thailand it might be, "Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas"
But Koreans say, "Sung Tan Chuk Ha"
In Farsi it's, "Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad"
and in Urdu, "Naya Saal Mubarak Ho"
So this holiday season spread cheer and joy through more than just your neighborhood. T'is the season to be worldly, and since we're on the topic, not everyone celebrates Christmas but that's no excuse for us not to greet them cheerfully in their own language!
