Merry Christmas!

Is the word "Jolly" used at any other time of the year. We use it to describe St. Nicholas, and to rhyme with "holly", but seriously, when else does it ever make an appearance? It's kinda sad, because it's a pefectly cromulent word, and deserves to get more usage, don't you think?

Tell you what, after New Years, let's all resolve to refer to someone as a "jolly chap", at least once during the year. The planet will be better off for it.

Of course, this isn't the only word that seems to be strictly seasonal: there's Yule, Nog, Manger, Magi, Myhrr, and Mistletoe, too. But these derive their seasonality out of being closely associated with Christmas...and have no utility whatsoever outside of the holiday. Same goes for terms like "Wenceslas" and "pa-rum-pa-pum-pum", too, I guess. But even though pear trees and partridges both exist throughout the year, you never hear anybody talking about them at any other time of year. (Well, unless Danny Bonaduce has done some stupid thing to get back into the news, I suppose.)

What's my point, you ask? Well, I don't think I have one. To be honest, I'd rather not think about "Lords a-leaping" even within the context of Christmas, thank you very much. Most of the terminology associated with this holiday is better left confined to a few chilly moments in December, and forgotten about throughout the rest of the year.

I do find it interesting, however, that the only two seasonal terms that have broken free of the holiday and made it into everyday vocabulary are "Scrooge" and "Grinch". Although originally proper names, they've entered the lexicon as adjectives, and tend to appear most frequently in political discussions and during annual employment compensation reviews. What do you think this says about us as a society? Why isn't anybody complimenting the good deeds people perform by saying "Dude, you're a regular Magi! Way to distribute the Frankincense, man!"? Wouldn't that be cool?

Oh well, linguistics aside, I really do hope that you all enjoy this special time, and can share some joy and "jolly" attitudes with the ones you love the most. Have a spectacular time, and a very Merry Christmas!