In December, the “good weekend”, “good holidays” and other “see you soon” are quickly forgotten. We tend to adapt our greetings to this particular time of year. Francophones are not the only ones in this case!
And if you know a little about the United States or have lived there, you may know that New Year’s greetings can be a political issue . It happens, for example, that people working in contact with the public are answered with their “happy holidays!” a scathing “Merry Christmas ”. It is still limited to the United States. In the UK , for example, saying “Merry Christmas” is completely normal. Around the world, some other languages don’t even have an expression that directly translates to “happy holidays,” as you’ll find out right away. In any case, if you are in doubt, you can always let the other person take the initiative.
Here’s how to wish happy holidays around the world (or in thirteen languages, at least), with translations for “happy holidays” and “happy new year”.
Happy New Year wishes in thirteen languages
Spanish
Happy New Year ! — ¡Happy fiestas!
Good year ! — ¡ Feliz Año Nuevo!
English
Happy New Year ! — Happy Holidays!
Good year ! —Happy New Year!
German
Happy New Year ! — Frohe Feiertage!
Good year ! ” Frohes neues Jahr!”
Italian
Happy New Year ! — Buone party!
Good year ! — Buon anno!
Portuguese
Happy New Year ! — Boas Festas!
Good year ! — Feliz ano novo!
Norwegian
Happy New Year ! — God fair!
Good year ! — Godt nytt år!
Good to know: the phrase “ God ferie!” actually means something like “happy holidays” in Norwegian, but it ‘s the closest thing to “Happy New Year!” “. You should especially hear “God jul!” nationwide in December .
Danish
Happy New Year ! — Glædelig højtid!
Good year ! — Godt nytår!
Good to know: Our didactics expert Peter Sørensen, who is Danish, translated “Happy New Year’s Eve!” but he tells us that there is no real Danish equivalent to this formula. Most of the time, you will hear “Merry Christmas” (Glædelig jul!) instead. He also tells us that the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent greeting cards in English with the phrase “Season’s Greetings” between 1998 and 2010, but that there is no never had a religiously neutral card in Danish.
Swedish
Happy New Year ! — God hey!
Good year ! — Gott nytt år!
Good to know: “God helg! is not widely used these days, so you should rarely hear it in Sweden. On the other hand, there are other end-of-year greetings in Swedish! In the two days after Christmas, you will often hear “God fortsättning!” , which means “good continuation”. Closer to New Year’s Eve, we also hear “Gott slut!” , which means “good ending! ” »
Dutch
Happy New Year ! — Fijne feestdagen!
Good year ! — Gelukkig nieuwjaar!
Polish
Happy New Year ! — Wesołych Świąt!
Good year ! — Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
Russian
Happy New Year ! — Весёлых праздников! ( Veselykh prazdnikov! )
Good year ! — С Новым годом! ( S Novym godom! )
Indonesian
Happy New Year ! — Selamat berlibur!
Good year ! — Selamat tahun baru!
Turkish
Happy New Year ! — İyi nibble!
Good year ! — Mutlu yıllar!
