Happy Holidays: This originally was a wish for "Happy holy days" referring to days set aside for worshiping God. In the 16th century the greeting started being used to refer to any day off from work for rest and recreation. At this time the day became holiday.
Merry X-mas:
This one annoys alot of people who believe this is crossing Christ out of the holiday, however did you know that X (chi pronounced "kie") is the first letter of the Greek word Christos? This means Annointed One or Messiah.
Merry Christmas:
Merry means pleasant or joyful. I've seen it described as 'happy, with a twinkle in its eye.' Christmas comes from the Old English Cristes Maesse which means the feast or mass of Christ. At these worship services (mass) people take bread and wine to celebrate the Lord's Supper.
Does this seem a bit strange that we would celebrate the death of our Lord Jesus on the day we celebrate His birth? We are basically saying, "Joyfully we celebrate our Lord's crucifxion." The bottom line is without His death on the cross, the shedding of His blood for our sins and his defeat over death there would be no reason to celebrate.
Italian : Buon Natale (bwon nuh-tal-a)
French: Joyeux Noel (joh-wah no-el)
Chinese: Sheng Tan Kuai Lob (shung tahn kwi lub)
Spanish: Feliz Navidad (feh-leez nah-vee-dah)
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka (meh-leh kah-lee-kee-mah-kah)
Hungarian: Boldog Kara'esonyt (bahl-dah kah-ri chah-nyew)
Afrikaans: Geseende Kersfees (ge-see-end-de kurs-feez)
Polynesian: Ia Orana no te Noere (yo-rah-nah noh tay noh-ay-ray)
Thai: Suk San Wan Christmas (sook san wan krees-mahs)
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