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conditional seasons greetings
2

conditional seasons greetings

conditional seasons greetings

(OP)
I'm expecting it to occur any day now. Someone will say to me, "If I don't see you again, have a Merry Christmas." Why the if condition? And what about the else condition? Shouldn't such good wishes come without conditions attached? At least make the condition not so petty as seeing someone. For example: "So long as you don't become a violent felon before then, have a merry Christmas."

Anyway, an unconditional happy holidays to all the Eng-tips grammarians.

Steve

RE: conditional seasons greetings

Have a grammatically auspicious Christmas!

RE: conditional seasons greetings

2
I guess some feel they have only so many "Merry Christmas's" to pass out, and if they wish you well now and they see you again, then one of the following must occur:
(a) you do not wish them a Merry Christmas the next time,
(b) you wish them Merry Christmas a second time and your remaining usable wishes are reduced,
(c) you "take back" your previous greeting when you first see them for the second time, then re-issue the greeting upon departure....and hope you don't see them again.

Dang, I always have difficulty keeping track of my greetings, and its embarasing when you "run out"!

RE: conditional seasons greetings

Those kinds of "conditionals" drive me nuts.

What they mean, of course, is, "It's not my normal custom to be wishing you a MC this early, but I may not see you during conventional MC-wishing season, so here's your MC now."  

Conditional or restrictive grammar, but not intent--just like these favorite examples of mine:

"Hi!  I'm your server.  If you need anything, my name is Chris."  (If you don't need anything, then the name's Pat.  Just don't expect anyone to answer to "Pat", since using that name is an indicator that you don't need anything.)

"...And that's the news.  In New York, I'm Joe Schmo."  (And in Paris, I'm Fifi, Queen of the Night.)

Hg

Eng-Tips policies:  FAQ731-376

RE: conditional seasons greetings

(OP)
The ending of This Old House always bothered me. "Until next time, I'm Bob Villa." Next time comes, and he's still Bob V. Must be like a license that needs to be renewed periodically.

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