Kiranga
Platinum Member
- Jan 29, 2009
- 78,790
- 128,275
In blue I do agree.... For the simple fact that it is syntactically valid as much as Semantically iffy - A syntactically valid statement no matter strange in one ear, is usually correct.
In red I do agree too... For you have just snatched up a part of Mtazamaji's phrase thus sounds OK and infact correct; Where as it is sytactically and semantically wrong when complete i.e "Happy x-mass and merry new year'" as opposed to "Happy x-mas and a Merry new year"
As I understand "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" "Happy Christmas and Merry New Year" "Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year" are all correct grammatically, syntactically and semantically. A little reading of Dickens, or Dickensian/ Victorian english, sprinkled with a bit of persusing Churchillian prose, or even if one would carefully listen to the pronouncements of people like William Hague, that would go a long way to establish this fact.
The only thing that may make some version sound strange compared to others is wide usage and convention, which can be as crucial as being wrong in the sense that greeting one "Happy Morning" instead of "Good Morning" would sound strange even without being wrong simply because the conventional greeting is "Good Morning" and not "Happy Morning".
So again, if some versions sound wrong, it is because of convention, not syntax, semantics or grammar.