It’s not actually a tradition as old as Christmas itself, it just feels that way.

Every year, as December 25 approaches, certain groups of people take issue with those who say “happy holidays”, “season’s greetings” or some variant thereof.

So how did this seasonal controversy come about, and how does it manifest itself?

What was the original intention behind phrases like ‘Happy Holidays’?

Initially, the phrase “Happy Holidays” was adopted either as a way of avoiding offence, or as a catch-all to include other celebrations like New Year, and other religions’ winter festivals - like Hannukah - along with Christmas.

The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked Show all 18 1 /18 The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 18) "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" – John Lennon and Yoko Ono There’s a caveat to the optimistic message of the song’s title. “War is over,” sing a choir of children over festive tambourines, but only, they add, “If you want it.” Having analysed the success of his previous single, “Imagine,” the former Beatle noted, “Now I understand what you have to do: Put your political message across with a little honey.” On this, an anti-Vietnam war protest song wrapped up in sleigh bells, strings and an anthemic melody, he does just that. AP Getty The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 17) "Mary's Boy Child/ Oh My Lord" – Boney M Taking Harry Belafonte’s 1956 hit “Mary’s Boy Child” and singing it in medley with new song “Oh My Lord”, Boney M’s No 1 hit combined Christmas carol-like harmonies with Euro disco, steel drums and a reggae sensibility. It might sound disastrous – but somehow it works. AP The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 16) "2,000 Miles" – The Pretenders “He’s gone/2,000 miles/Is very far,” sings Chrissie Hynde, above a twanging guitar riff in “2,000 Miles”, her serpentine melody stretching each syllable into several. You could easily assume it’s about two separated lovers, but it was actually written for the band’s original guitar player, James Honeyman-Scott, who died of a drug overdose a year earlier at the age of 25. The song is desperately bleak – as is the case with all the best Christmas songs – but with a note of festive hopefulness too. “The children were singing/He’ll be back at Christmas time.” AP Rex The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 15) "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" – Brenda Lee Brenda Lee was just 13 years old when she made herself a rockabilly legend thanks to the recording of this party classic. It always reminds me of scenes in The Santa Clause (one of the best ever Christmas films) where the jaunty number was heavily featured, along with seminal holiday movie Home Alone. RO The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 14) "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" – Dean Martin Few Christmas songs are as cosy as this one. Dean Martin’s smooth, rich voice is as warming as a good glass of whisky; paired with sweeping, romantic strings and a chirpy flute, “Let it Snow!” conjures up images of stockings hanging up over the chimney, a Christmas tree glinting with baubles, and a frost-tinted window with snow falling outside. RO Getty Images The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 13) "Walking in the Air" – The Snowman / Peter Auty Though Aled Jones tends to get the credit for this haunting masterpiece, it is actually the voice of choirboy Peter Auty that appears in the climactic scene of the wordless 1982 animation The Snowman. He wasn’t credited though, and when his voice broke and Jones’s version reached number five in the UK charts, he was almost written out of history. In truth, though, whichever version you hear, the song’s sweeping grandeur is goosebumps-inducing. AP Channel 4 The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 12) "Peace on Earth/ Little Drummer Boy" – David Bowie/ Bing Crosby Recorded for Bing Crosby’s TV special Merrie Olde Christmas, and framed around a strange scripted exchange of banter between the two, this mash-up only came about because Bowie hated the song, “Little Drummer Boy”, that he had been asked on the show to sing. So songwriters Ian Fraser and Larry Grossman, alongside the show’s scriptwriter, cobbled together “Peace on Earth” to serve as a counterpoint, while Crosby performed the intended song. They recorded the resulting medley after less than an hour of rehearsal, and five weeks later, Crosby died. AP Redferns The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 11) "Santa Baby" – Eartha Kitt “Eartha Kitt is the sexiest woman in the world. You don’t write Christmas songs that are sexy. How are we going to do that?” Poor Phil Springer. Half of the songwriting team behind the super sultry “Santa Baby” was always slightly resentful that his biggest hit was a festive one. Well, I’m grateful for it. Eartha Kitt’s huskily delivered letter to Santa Claus is undoubtedly the sexiest Christmas song of all time, and has been covered by everyone from Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift to Madonna (I don’t talk about Madge’s attempt) and Michael Buble. Yet it’s Kitt’s version you find yourself coming back to. RO The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 10) "The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole This Mel Torme composition was originally written, according to Torme, with Bob Wells as a mind-over-matter attempt to stay cool during a stifling summer day in 1945. It’s one of Cole’s most enduring hits, and one of the most beloved of all Christmas songs. RO GETTY IMAGES The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 9) "I Believe in Father Christmas" – Greg Lake This Mel Torme composition was originally written, according to Torme, with Bob Wells as a mind-over-matter attempt to stay cool during a stifling summer day in 1945. It’s one of Cole’s most enduring hits, and one of the most beloved of all Christmas songs. RO Reuters The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 8) "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" – Andy Williams Andy Williams’ classic brings to mind the kind of big, brash Christmas’s you see in American films – lots of presents, blazing fireplaces and a huge feast – but also plays heavily on the importance of spending time with your loved ones. It consistently appears in the top 10s of Christmas song rankings, and more than 50 years in, the 1963 staple shows no signs of wearing out. RO AP The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 7) 'Stop the Cavalry" – Jona Lewie It was “just another anti-war song” until Jona Lewie threw a kazoo into the mix. The English singer-songwriter never intended “Stop the Cavalry” to become a Christmas single, but the festive mention in the line “I wish I was at home for Christmas”, along with the addition of a Salvation Army brass band and tubular bell, was enough to convince listeners. The song sold 4m copies upon its release and was only kept off the top slot that Christmas because of John Lennon’s death and consequent position at numbers one and two on the UK singles chart. Lewie told The Guardian in 2015 that he earns more from “Stop the Cavalry” than the rest of his songs put together. RO The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 6) "Driving Home for Christmas" – Chris Rea In 1978, Rea thought it was all over. His record contract was done, and his manager had just told him he was quitting. Rea wanted to get home from London’s Abbey Road studios to Middlesborough, but his record company wouldn’t pay for a ticket. “My wife got in our old Austin Mini, drove all the way down from Middlesbrough to Abbey Road studios to pick me up, and we set off back straight away,” he told The Guardian. “Then it started snowing. We had £220 and I was fiddling with it all the way home. We kept getting stuck in traffic and I’d look across at the other drivers, who all looked so miserable. Jokingly, I started singing: “We’re driving home for Christmas…” RO AFP/Getty The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 5) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" – Frank Sinatra Sinatra’s version of this classic Christmas song opens on his isolated vocals before gradually introducing the swooning choir and tender strings section. And the lyrics: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas/Make the Yuletide gay / From now on your troubles will be miles away/Here we are as in olden days/Happy golden days of yore/Faithful friends who are dear to us / Gather near to us once more.” RO AP The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 4) "All I Want for Christmas is You" – Mariah Carey One of the best moments on American Idol in 2014 was an exchange between judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey, who famously did not get on during the series. As a contestant/Mariah stan [“stalker fan”] told the star he loved “All I Want for Christmas is You“ and hailed it as the “best modern-day Christmas song”, Minaj threw a little shade by saying: “It sure was, wasn’t it?”, emphasis on the ”was“ very much intended. Carey’s response was immediate and dismissive: “Still is, dahling!” She earns a reported £4000,000 in royalties from the track each year, with its lasting popularity testament to just how good a song it is. Its unyielding Christmas spirit and those diminished (infectious) C minor chords combine for the ultimate experience of festive cheer, with a perfect mix of nostalgia and pop sentimentalism thrown in for good measure. RO AP The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 3) "Last Christmas" – Wham! George Michael wrote, performed, produced and played every single instrument on this song, where the narrator looks back with sadness on a past relationship. As with “Fairytale of New York”, you have an upbeat, cheerful rhythm and chirpy instrumentation, against the melancholy of unrequited love in the lyrics, with the suggestion that it was given away too hastily (“This year, to save me from tears/I’ll give it to someone special”). RO YouTube/WhamVEVO The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 2) "Fairytale of New York" – The Pogues Some of the best songs combine uplifting instrumentation that contrasts with lyrics that can be downright miserable, and such is the case for “Fairytale of New York”. It has none of the sickly sweet sentimentality of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” or Wham!’s “Last Christmas”. “Fairytale of New York” is a drunken hymn for those with broken dreams and abandoned hopes. Its narrator, an Irish immigrant, is thrown into a drunk tank to sleep off his Christmas Eve binge. Hearing an old man sing the Irish ballad “The Rare Old Mountain Dew”, he begins to dream about the past, and so begins the story of two people who fell in love in America, only to see their plans of a bright future dashed. Shane MacGowan’s slurring, bitter delivery of those opening vocals is played out over romanticised piano chords, then to those wonderful, jaunty strings, with Terry Woods’ mandolin part giving the song an additional Irish brogue. RO YouTube/Screengrab The 18 greatest Christmas songs of all time – ranked 1) "Winter Wonderland" – Bing Crosby Richard (Dick) Smith was suffering from tuberculosis, an illness which had plagued him since a child, from his bed in a sanatorium in Philadelphia. Gazing longingly out of his window at the snow, he wrote a poem describing all the things he would do when he was well again. He was inspired by the views of people playing in the park across the street from his family home on Church Street, where he’d lived with his mother, brother and two sisters. His father had died when he was a child. After he was finished, he took the lyrics to his friend Felix Bernard, a professional pianist. A copy of “Winter Wonderland” found its way to Joey Nash, lead singer of the Richard Himber Orchestra, who recorded it in 1934. Guy Lombardo heard Nash’s recording and made a record of his own, which became a hit that December. Smith died in 1935 before “Winter Wonderland” became a Christmas hit again for Ted Weems, and long before Crosby recorded his, and arguably the most famous, version. RO STF/AFP/Getty

The phrase can be traced at least as far back as 1863, and by the 1930s and 1940s was commonly – and uncontroversially – being used in advertising campaigns.

But in recent decades what was intended as a neutral or inclusive choice of words has become increasingly political.

Why do some people object to Happy Holidays and phrases like it?

Some dislike what they see as an attempt at secularisation: they see it as ‘taking the Christ out of Christmas.’

Some are proud to hate what they call “political correctness gone mad”, often associating it with the kind of “loony left” initiatives of councils who in the Eighties were pilloried for banning things like Baa Baa Black Sheep – even though no council ever did ban the nursey rhyme.

Increasingly, “Happy Holidays” has been linked to what some critics portray as a craven attempt to appease Muslims, sometimes coupled to claims that Islam is a threat to a country’s “way of life”.

And it has become more and more common for some or all of these objections to be bundled together in complaints about a perceived “War on Christmas”.

How did the “War on Christmas” backlash start?

Possibly with Fox News in 2005. That was the year when John Gibson, radio talk show host, and at the time anchor of The Big Story on Fox News, published a book entitled: The War On Christmas: How The Liberal Plot To Ban The Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought.

In this narrative, the phrase “happy holidays” was no longer as innocent as some believed. Instead, it was portrayed as an act of liberal aggression.

The message was enthusiastically adopted by fellow Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly. Who repeated it pretty much every year.

What happened during “The War on Christmas”?

For US conservatives, especially those on the evangelical right-wing - if the liberals were allowed to win the War on Christmas, who knew what fresh hell they would unleash next?

“They say the next step after saying ‘Happy Holidays’ is abortion on demand and euthanasia,” Dan Cassino, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, told the New York Times in 2016. “That’s a hell of a slippery slope, but that’s the argument being made.”

And by 2016 - in what is far from the only example of synergy between the man who is now US president and Fox News - Donald Trump was capitalising on those conservative fears during his presidential election campaign.

During rallies he repeatedly promised to end the ‘War on Christmas’, and in office he announced victory for the conservative backlash by declaring, “We can say Merry Christmas again”.

The 20 best Christmas films - ranked Show all 20 1 /20 The 20 best Christmas films - ranked The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 20. The Santa Clause (1994) When Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin accidentally kills Santa Claus (a nice, light-hearted beginning to a family film) he is expected to take his place. He refuses at first – but when his hair turns white, a beard and belly grow overnight, and children start approaching him with their wish lists, he reluctantly takes the mantle. It’s weirder and darker than it has any right to be, but it’s enjoyable to watch. Buena Vista Pictures The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 19. The Apartment (1960) When writer and director Billy Wilder first watched Brief Encounter, in which two people use a friend’s house to consummate an affair, he wrote in his notebook: “What about the poor schnook who has to crawl into the still-warm bed of the lovers?” The result of that scribble is The Apartment, a film that, with its farcical but well-wrought premise and career-best performances from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, never puts a foot wrong. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 18. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) Whether you consider this film a heart-warming gem or an insult to the 1947 original might depend on which version you grew up with – but it’s hard to argue with the performances of Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle, and Mara Wilson as the precociously cynical Dorey. 20th Century Fox The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 17. The Holiday (2006) Film trailer editor Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and wedding columnist Iris (Kate Winslet) exchange homes over Christmas in an attempt to escape their terrible love lives. This Nancy Meyers classic is as predictable as its fake movie trailers, but it’s warm and witty, with a strange but sweet subplot involving an Oscar-winning nonagenarian. Universal Pictures The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 16. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) A bizarre and macabre Santa Claus origin story, this Finnish fantasy horror follows a group of Lapland natives who stumble upon the secret of Father Christmas. To say that he’s not the cuddly, benevolent gift-giver we know and love would be an understatement. To say any more would be to spoil the twisted fun. Kinology The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 15. Happy Christmas (2014) This low-budget, entirely improvised film from “mumblecore” actor-director Joe Swanberg is an understated and underrated gem. Anna Kendrick is typically charismatic as an irresponsible twenty-something who crashes, uninvited, back into the life of her older brother Jeff (Swanberg), but the film’s secret weapon is a brilliantly nuanced performance from Melanie Lynskey Magnolia Pictures The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 14. White Christmas (1954) Featuring a reimagined version of the title song, which Bing Crosby introduced in Holiday Inn over a decade earlier, White Christmas was intended to reunite Crosby with Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin showcase musical. Astaire declined the project, and eventually Danny Kaye starred instead, as an aspiring entertainer alongside Crosby. The resulting film was a box office smash and a subsequent classic. Astaire missed out. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 13. Die Hard (1988) Whatever side you’re on in the infernal debate over whether it’s actually a Christmas movie (Bruce Willis thinks not), it's hard to deny that Die Hard is a perfect action movie. That it takes place on Christmas Eve, and features lines like, “Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho”, makes it ideal holiday viewing too – particularly if you’re a little sick of festive slush. Moviestore/Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 12. The Bishop’s Wife (1947) Based on Robert Nathan’s 1928 novel, The Bishop’s Wife stars Cary Grant as perhaps the most charming angel to ever grace the silver screen. Taking on human form in order to help a struggling bishop (David Niven) and his fractured marriage, Grant’s Dudley accidentally falls in love with the eponymous Julia (Loretta Young). He’s an angel, though, not a homewrecker, and all is well come Christmas Eve. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 11. A Christmas Carol (1999) There have been about a hundred screen adaptations of Charles Dickens’s iconic novella, which sees a penny-pinching miser change his ways after encountering the ghosts of his Christmas past, present and future. Though this made-for-television film is far from the most famous reimagining, it is one of the best – thanks in no small part to perfectly pitched performances from Patrick Stewart and Richard E Grant. RHI Entertainment The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 10. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) Sick of playing juvenile roles, Judy Garland nearly turned down her role as the lovesick Esther Smith in this musical comedy. When she finally agreed to do it, the production was marred by her erratic behaviour – she would regularly turn up to set hours late, or not turn up at all. “It was some years later before I really knew what she’d been going through,” her co-star Mary Astor later said, alluding to Garland’s struggles with mental health issues and addiction – but you’d never know any of that watching this warm, charming film. It’s also responsible for one of the best Christmas songs ever made: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 9. Home Alone 2 Lost in New York (1992): It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Home Alone franchise went on for three films too long – but this first sequel is surprisingly wonderful. Sure, it follows almost the exact same formula as the original, and simply relocates to the Big Apple, but with a formula this good, and with Macaulay Culkin still on board (he wisely bowed out after this one), it’s hard to complain. If you’re after festive cheer, though, you might want to fast forward through Donald Trump’s brief cameo. 20th Century Fox The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 8. Carol (2015) When it comes to Christmas films, there is no shortage of love and romance – but it’s all overwhelmingly straight. Even Love Actually filmed a queer storyline among its 524 interweaving plots, before deciding it should be cut from the film, leaving that “Colin goes to America” abomination intact. And so Todd Haynes’s Carol, a beautifully shot adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel in which department store worker Therese (Rooney Mara) falls in love with a mysterious older woman (Cate Blanchett) in the run up to Christmas, is a welcome break from heteronorm-nativity. StudioCanal The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 7. Love Actually (2003) We’ve all read that Jezebel article by now, and know that Love Actually is flawed as hell. But there is far too much to enjoy in this ensemble romcom to write it off – namely Emma Thompson’s extraordinary, rightly revered performance as the wronged wife of Alan Rickman. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 6. Gremlins (1984) There are three simple rules to keep a gremlin from wreaking havoc: don’t expose it to the light, don’t get it wet, and never feed it after midnight. Naturally, over the course of this Christmas comedy horror, all three of those rules are broken. The ensuing chaos makes for riotous viewing. Warner Bros The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 5. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Who’s have thought that one of the best interpretations of Charles Dickens’s festive fable would come courtesy of a bunch of wise-cracking puppets? In his role as Ebeneezer Scrooge, Michael Caine vowed to act “like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company”, whatever ridiculous antics were happening around him. His tactic worked. Buena Vista Pictures The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 4. The Snowman (1982) Though this beautiful, wordless animation is not widely known outside the UK – it was first broadcast on the then fledgling Channel 4 in 1982 and then annually ever since – it is well worth 26 minutes of anyone’s time. Revolving around a young boy and a snowman come to life (a little like Jack Frost, except not terrible), the film ends with a breathtaking flourish, as the pair fly over England’s snowy plains to the melancholy strains of “Walking in the Air". Channel 4 The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 3. Elf (2003) This fish-out-of-water tale, in which one of Santa’s elves (Will Ferrell) discovers that he’s actually a human and sets out to New York to find his father, could have been supremely annoying if it weren’t for Ferrell’s absolute commitment to his ludicrous role. Bolstered by strong performances from James Caan, Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel, Elf manages to be both self-aware and defiantly uncynical. Rex The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 2. Home Alone (1990) After revelling for a while in every child’s ill-thought-out fantasy – “I made my family disappear,” says Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin when his family accidentally leave on holiday without him – Home Alone then promptly changes tack, inserting two grimy burglars into the mix. Cue some of the most inventive, and surprisingly violent, self-defence techniques you’ve ever seen. 20th Century Fox The 20 best Christmas films - ranked 1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Admittedly, for about 120 of this film’s 130-minute running time, it’s really not a wonderful life at all. In fact, this tale of a down-on-his-luck bank clerk (James Stewart) driven to the brink of suicide, before a trainee angel shows him what the world would have been like without him (spoiler: much worse), is deeply emotionally draining. But it’s also warm, funny, timeless, life-affirming, and a deserved classic. National Telefilm Associates

And how are some Trump organisations saying “Merry Christmas” this year?

The home page of the online Trump Store – “Experience the World of Trump” – features a photo of Christmas tree decorations and presents, all arranged around the message: “Holiday gift guide, shop now”.

So, arguably, pretty much “happy holidays”.

What other attempts at festive inclusivity have angered right-wing commentators?

One of the most widely remembered is Birmingham City Council’s creation of ‘Winterval’.

The move, by the local authority in charge of England’s second city, was portrayed as an attempt to replace Christmas with a wholly artificial secular festival called Winterval. It was immediately condemned as “political correctness gone mad”.

When the council repeated Winterval in 1998, the Right Reverend Mark Santer, the perhaps aptly named Bishop of Birmingham, publicly mocked it as a clumsy replacement of Christmas and wondered whether Christianity was being “censored”.

In fact, however, the council’s original Winterval brochure included things like pictures of angels, and details of a Christmas carol concert. And mention of the word Christmas.

Mike Chubb, the city council’s head of events at the time, did explain that “Quite simply, we needed a vehicle which could cover the marketing of a whole season of events…Diwali (festival of Lights), Christmas lights switch on, BBC Children in Need, Aston Hall by Candlelight, Chinese New year, New Year’s Eve etc. Also a season that included theatre shows and open air ice rink, Frankfurt open air Christmas market and the Christmas seasonal retail offer.”

Mr Chubb added: “Political correctness was never the reasoning behind Winterval, but yes it was intended to be inclusive (which is no bad thing to my mind).”

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But despite such explanations, the word “Winterval” became fixed in the national consciousness as a kind of shorthand for heavy-handed political correctness.

Nearly a decade after Winterval was first mooted, a weary Birmingham City Council press officer was telling a Guardian reporter: “We get this every year. It just depends how many rogue journalists you get in any given year. We tell them it's bollocks, but it doesn't seem to make much difference.”