The phrase “happy holidays” is one we hear everywhere this time of year, so let’s take a closer look at where it comes from.
The word “holiday” began as the compound “holy day,” a term from Old English that originally referred to religious days. Over time, its meaning expanded. By the 1400s, “holiday” had come to describe not only religious days but also other festive occasions or just days when people didn’t do their usual work.
If “holiday” started as “holy day,” why do we now pronounce the first syllable with an “ah” sound instead of an “oh"? It has to do with the way vowels change over time. During the Middle English period, the time of Chaucer, if a three-syllable word like the compound “holy day” contained a long vowel sound in the first syllable, that sound became short. As a result, the “hoh” in "holy day" was made made short, giving us "holiday.
The word “happy” has an interesting history of its own. It comes from “hap,” which is the same root found in words like “mishap.” Dating back to around 1200, “hap” meant "chance" or "fortune." A “mishap” is literally bad fortune. In “perhaps,” per means "by," making the word mean “by chance.”
"Hap” could also refer to good fortune. If you were “happy,” you were experiencing good fortune or favored by chance. Over time, that sense evolved into the meaning we use today: experiencing contentment or enjoyment.
So, if someone wishes you “happy holidays” this season, know that they are wishing you good fortunate as you set aside time to celebrate and/or enjoy simply taking time away from work.
This week, we also talked about the seasonal contractions "'tis" and "'twas." To hear that conversation, listen to the audio above.
