Just off the top of my head - - I always thought that Merry Christmas was short hand speaking for "Be merry because it is Christmas". *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Mary B. from the Beautiful, Exotic Valley Community Library (PA) the jewel of the Lackawanna County Library System *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^