God Jul, Feliz Natal or even Joyeux Noël. You can learn how to say ‘Merry Christmas’ in over 100 languages and luckily Santa knows all of them, but, for nearly half of Londoners, getting the hang of just one other language is a challenge, new research from Rosetta Stone reveals.

Despite living in a cosmopolitan society, where we are surrounded by different cultures, religions and nationalities, the findings reveal that a whopping 44% of Londoners don’t know how to say one of the season’s most popular greetings in another language (singing Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano doesn’t count!).

In English, most of us greet each other over the festive period with a jolly ‘Merry Christmas’ which dates back to 1699 when an English admiral first used the term in an informal letter. The phrase was then used in Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ in 1843 and has been the standard seasonal greeting since.

But whilst we might struggle with learning the Christmas lingo, it seems we are keen to redress the balance and branch out in the languages department. When asked about New Year’s resolutions, one in 10 Londoners (11.4%) said they would most like to start learning a new language in 2022, perhaps a reflection of the 46% who also have visiting a new country on their priority list for the year ahead.

As it stands, however, nearly half of Londoners don’t know how to say Merry Christmas in another language. Out of those who do, the top three languages to say it in are French (44%), Spanish (35%) and German (16%). Interestingly, on a national level, the age group that is most likely to know how to say the phrase in another language is those aged 16-24 (50%), in contrast to those aged 45-54 (32%).

The research also goes on to reveal that among 16–24-year-olds, 42% can say it in Spanish compared to a smaller number in the over 55’s (29%). However, only 9% of the younger group can say it in German in contrast with the older category (22%). This could be down to several factors including languages at school, Brexit and possibly people thinking they might be too old to pick up a hobby such as learning a language.

Polish and Portuguese is spoken more by those aged 16-24 (21%) than those over 45 (8%). Similarly, Japanese is more popular with 16-34 years old than those who are older. Italian is known more by those aged 45-54 (14%) compared to the younger group of 16–24-year-olds (6%). Shockingly, from those surveyed, 0% of over 55’s can say Merry Christmas in Dutch! So, it’s about time we start doing some Christmas mingling!

What do different countries say as a festive greeting? Here’s how to say it in 20 languages:

Buon Natale! (Italy)
God Jul! (Sweden)
Feliz Natal! / Boas Festas! (Portugal)
Joyeux Noël (France)
Fröhliche Weihnachten! (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
Feliz Navidad! (Spain)
Prettige Feestdagen! Dutch (Netherlands)
Wesolych Swiat (Poland)
Kalá Christoúgenna (Greece)
Sretan Bozic! (Croatia)
Craciun Fericit! (Romania)
Merii Kurisumasu! (Japan)
Kung His Hsin Nien Bing Chu Shen Tan! (China – Mandarin)
S̄uk̄hs̄ạnt̒ wạn khris̄t̒mās̄! Thai (Thailand)
Sung Tan Chuk Ha! (Korea)
Giáng sinh vui vẻ (Vietnam)
Shub Naya Baras (Hindi)
Glædelig Jul! (Denmark)
Häid jõule! (Estonia)
Gleðileg jól! (Iceland)

Lexicographer and Countdown regular Susie Dent has also explored the history and evolution of some popular festive words:

Chocolate – The first recorded use of ‘chocolate’ in English is as a drink made from chocolate, which became highly fashionable in the 17th and 18th centuries and which went by various spellings. Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary in 1664: ‘To a Coffee-house, to drink jocolatte, very good.’ The word came to us via Spanish but is ultimately from Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs of Mexico, in which ‘chocolatl’ meant ‘food made from cacao seeds’.

Marzipan – The sugary paste we slather on our Christmas cakes has enjoyed an exotic journey, starting at the port of Martaban on the coast of southeast Burma (Myanmar), which was once famous for its glazed jars containing preserves and sweets. The name ‘Martaban’ travelled through Persian and Arabic into European languages including Italian, where it was named marzapane. The meaning of the word eventually shifted from an ornate container to its contents, and ‘marzipan’ entered English in the 15th century.

Chipolata – Chipolatas were once all about onions. The name comes from the Italian cipollata, meaning ‘flavoured with onion’. Anyone looking for an alternative name for their sausages might like the Victorian slang term ‘bags of mystery’, so called because you never quite know what’s in them.

Tinsel – The name of the shiny decorations adorning our Christmas trees came to us from Old French and the verb estinceler ‘to sparkle’, which in turn comes from the Latin scintilla, a ‘spark’ (also at the heart of ‘scintillating’). In medieval times, tinsel was a fabric woven with metallic thread or spangles. Our modern sparkly strips emerged in the late 16th century.

Glögg – The wonderfully onomatopoeic ‘glögg’ is a type of Scandinavian mulled wine made with brandy, almonds, raisins, and spices. It is a direct borrowing from Swedish and a verb meaning to ‘burn’ or ‘mull’.

For those keen to explore a new language, online language learning expert Rosetta Stone has made things even easier this Christmas, with four half-price packages that make the ideal gift for travel lovers and linguaphiles: 3 months (one language) £29; 6 months (one language) £49; 12 months (unlimited languages) £99; lifetime access (unlimited languages) £179.