Over four in five Australians (85%) prefer the traditional greeting of “Merry Christmas” compared to more neutral salutations like “Season's Greetings” (8%) and “Happy Holidays” (7%).
Australians love to celebrate, and Christmas is no exception. As well as exchanging gifts, families tend to enjoy big lunches with all the trimmings. Since it's summer, barbecues and outdoor games such as cricket are popular. You will also find many Aussies around pools or at the beach.
The most common verbal greeting is a simple “Hey”, “Hello”, or “Hi”. Some people may use Australian slang and say “G'day” or “G'day mate”. However, this is less common in cities. Many Australians greet by saying “Hey, how are you?”.
To this day, Merry Christmas remains the most common way to express Christmas greetings in the United States. (Although, of course, there are many fun alternatives, such as happy holidays.)
Let's start with the most common, most well-known, and most quintessentially Australian slang term for girls: Sheila. While everywhere else in the English-speaking world, Sheila is a specific person's name, in Australia it can be used to refer to any woman or girl.
Frequently Asked Questions About Christmas In Australia
These days most Australians call Atnas (his real name) “Santa”.
Neutral holiday Christmas card wording ideas
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a New Year of peace and happiness. May the holidays bring you and your family pleasant memories to build on, and more happiness in the coming New Year.
Short Christmas Greetings
"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" "Season's Greetings! And best wishes for the New Year. “I hope your holiday is full of love, peace and joy!”
Happy Christmas is pretty much the standard greeting used around the Christmas season, although we do say “Merry Christmas” from time to time. Apparently, it is said that the use of the term “Happy Christmas” is quite modern and was really to get away from the drunken connotations of the word “merry”.
It surely sounds strange to those who are familiar with American or British English, but it is a very common expression in Australia. G'day is a shortened form of 'Good Day' and it is the equivalent of 'Hello. ' Mate means friend or buddy and it can be used to address your friend or a total stranger.
Pronunciation. In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, the word is pronounced /ˈɒzi/, hence the alternative form Ozzie; however, in the United States, it is most often pronounced /ˈɔːsi/ AW-see.
Interjection. oi (UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, usually impolite) Said to get someone's attention; hey.
The children in Australia believe in Santa Claus. However, since it is summer, it would not be unusual to see Santa dressed in a lighter, cooler version of his red and white suit. Shorts can even be seen! Santa does use reindeer to pull his sleigh when delivering gifts to children in Australia.
The family goes to midnight mass and attends church on Christmas Day, as well. Afterwards there are parties and festive visits. Christmas Day is when families and close friends gather together from all over Australia. The highlight of the day is the holiday midday dinner.
"Naur" is "no" spelled in an Australian accent. More accurately, it's "no" spelled in what an Australian accent sounds like to Americans. "When you tell an Australian that there's an 'r' in the way we pronounce 'no' they're like 'Mmm… no, there's not,'" says Hume.
If you live in an area with mostly Christians, or if you know someone has a Menorah and not a Christmas tree, you can generally feel safe with a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah.” But if you don't know, or aren't quite sure, it's probably best to stay general rather than taking a guess and potentially making ...
The word “Merry Christmas” is usually used in the United States while “Happy Christmas” is more prevalent in the United Kingdom since both the expressions have altered and developed with time.
Merry Christmas and Happy Christmas are both greetings used during the last part of December, around Christmastime. The first word of each is only capitalized when used as a greeting. When one is speaking of a happy or merry Christmas, the adjectives are lowercase.
Xmas (also X-mas) is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/.
Happy holidays!
This is a very casual way to wish someone a happy holiday season. It is very similar to “Merry Christmas”, but the emphasis is on the season rather than the specific day of celebration.
In England and Australia, you'll often hear Happy Christmas, but in the US and Canada, Merry is the star of the show.
Then when July finally rolls around, this is when Australians celebrate Christmas in the traditional sense since it's colder. Although we know it as Christmas in July, Australians call this second celebration Yuletide or Yulefest.
roo – kangaroo
They had to have a dedicated slang term for kangaroos too, didn't they? After all, the kangaroos are Australia's most popular animals.