As always, there's controversy this year about people saying, "Happy Holidays" rather than, "Merry Christmas". Normally I don't care too much. If people are going around wishing nice things to one another, I won't look that gift horse in the mouth.
But I do have to point out that this year the replacing of "Christmas" with "Holiday" has entered a new and awkward phase, as advertisers have tried expanding use of the H-word beyond slogans and signs, and into more natural speech. I mean, I can understand using "holiday" when addressing a large public group ("Here's wishing everyone in Moose River a Happy Holiday"), but people don't really use it when discussing it with well known friends. ("What are we having for Holiday dinner?")
The prime example is that heart-warming Apple commercial where that teenager makes a family movie with his iPhone. It's a nice ad, but the video begins with the title, "A Harris Family Holiday." That sounds artificial, and not just because we're supposed to believe that a family called "Harris" might be celebrating a different holiday.
It's one thing to talk about the population as a whole celebrating "Holidays" in a generic sense, but no single person/family celebrates "Holidays." I doubt anyone would feel left out of we just acknowledged that the family in the ad is celebrating Christmas. Or, alternately, I doubt any reasonable person would find the commercial any less touching if it were "A Savarkar Family Diwali."
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