Where did the saying Merry Christmas come from?

Answer 1

Apparently 'Crimbo' is a slang synonym for the word 'Christmas'.

The word Christmas is a contraction of Christ's Mass, derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse and refering to the religious ceremony of mass. It is often abbreviated Xmas, probably because X or Xt have often been used as a contraction for Christ. The English letter X resembles the Greek letter (chi), the first letter of Christ in Greek transliterated as Christos. Crimbo is an informal synonym used in British English. Xmas is pronounced the same as Christmas, but most people just say X-Mas.

Answer 2

The use of 'Merry Christmas' as a seasonal salutation dates back to at least 1565, when it appeared in The Hereford Municipal Manuscript ( Hereford is a county in the UK):

"And thus I comytt you to god, who send you a mery Christmas & many."

1843 was also the date of the publication of Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol and it was around that time, in the early part of the reign of Queen Victoria, that Christmas as we now know it was largely invented. The word merry was then beginning to take on its current meaning of 'jovial,fun and outgoing'. The term used by Bob Cratchit on his late arrival back in the old misers office on the day following Christmas Day was " Im sorry, I was making rather merry yesterday Mr Scooge"

Answer 3

The Christmas time greeting "Merry Christmas" came from an English Admiral in 1699. He used "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" in an informal letter. Christmas has been celebrated since the 4th Century A.D..