Happy Birthday!!!

So, for the first post of my new blog I will tell you about something I noticed recently. Last Saturday was my birthday and so I told my students and Japanese friends.

I found their reaction a little strange to say the least. Most of them gave me a big:

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

This is from the Japanese "お誕生日おめでとうございます!"

So in Japanese you say "Birthday Congratulations!" but in English we use Congratulations for things we have done, accomplishments. For example:

A: I had a baby.
B: Congratulations!

A: I passed the test!
B: Congratulations!

Having a baby and passing a test are things you did, they do not just happen naturally.

In English the right thing to say is a simple:

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

So for birthdays, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc. we usually just say:

"Happy ____________!"

An exception in Canada and the US is we don't say HAPPY CHRISTMAS (though they say it in the UK), we use the old word for happy, merry.

"Merry Christmas!"

I hope that helps,

Phil