Your Say: Happy Holiday? Thanks.

• Going back to the early Middle Ages, the origin of "holiday" is "holy day."
• Christmas, Easter and Hanukkah are holy days to observers.
• Saying "Happy Holiday" is not irreligious.

Letter to the editor:

The offense over wishing people a "Happy Holiday" rather than a "Merry Christmas" expressed by Bob Beckel, Cal Thomas and others is puzzling ("Holiday legal traditions," The Forum, Thursday).

It also demonstrates a lack of the knowledge of language surprising in those who write for a living. Etymological dictionaries tell us that, going back as far as the early Middle Ages, the origin of "holiday" is "holy day" or "halig daeg." Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, Eid and Yom Kippur are holy days to observers. Saying "Happy Holiday" is therefore far from irreligious, although it provides a certain leeway if unsure of the religious practices of the hearer.

If Beckel and Thomas want to worry about defending Christmas, perhaps they should aim their ire at the forces that have turned a holy day into a celebration of commercialism.

Marilyn Goodman; Yaphank, N.Y.

Comments from Facebook:

I'm an atheist, and Christmas, Hanukkah and other displays don't bother me in the least. I have no interest in insulting people for celebrating their beliefs. Let's all mind our own business. Live and let live.

Tracy Nickerson

Actually, groups do have the right to complain about the actions of other groups when it comes to public property. Exclusive religious displays constitute a government endorsement of religion that is banned by the First Amendment.

James Jones

This country was founded on the belief that all groups should be free to worship or not as they choose.

Lanny Howe