Happy holidays (Joyeuses fêtes) in several languages

[Manon C]

Hello everybody !

I have to make a visual to wish everyone happy holidays and I want to do it in several languages. Can you tell me if my translations are good ? Thank you so much !

(We don't say "Merry christmas" but only "happy holidays")

Spanish : Felices fiestas !
Italian : Bueno feste !
Portuguese : Bom feriado !
German : Frohe festtage !
Swedish : Glada helgdagar !
Czech : Hezké svátky !
Thai : สุขสันต์วันหยุด
Romanian : Sărbători fericite
Bengali : শুভ ছুটির দিন
Russian : Счастливых праздников

Thank you and happy holidays to all !

 

[merquiades]

There are at least two mistakes. They are direct translations
Buone feste! Italian
Boas festas! Portuguese

 

[apmoy70]

Greek:

We say «καλές γιορτές» [kaˈles ʝɔrˈtes] (both fem. nom. pl.) --> good holidays, bonnes fêtes, lit. good festivities, or if we want to be more specific «καλά Χριστούγεννα» [kaˈla xriˈstu.ʝe.na] (both neut. nom. pl.) --> good Christmas, bon Noël, «καλή Πρωτοχρονιά» [kaˈli prɔ.tɔ.xrɔˈɲa] (both fem. nom. sing.) --> good new-year's-day, bon jour de l'an, lit. good first-year's-day

 

[Manon C]

There are at least two mistakes. They are direct translations
Buone feste! Italian
Boas festas! Portuguese

Thanks a lot !

 

[Penyafort]

Catalan:
Bones festes!

As for corrections, the Spanish translation is right, but remember that an initial exclamation mark is needed too:
¡Felices fiestas!

 

[Circunflejo]

In Basque, if I'm not wrong, it would be zorionak!

 

[Olaszinhok]

In Hungarian, it should be:

“Kellemes Ünnepeket (kívánok)!“.

 

[Awwal12]

Russian : Счастливых праздников

I must note that while the translation is basically correct and doesn't sound outright weird, it still isn't quite idiomatic. Normally I'd rather expect wishing "to spend the holidays pleasantly / with luck", or just congratulations "with the upcoming holidays"; wishing "happy something" sounds more like a calque from English (Russian "счастли́вый" isn't fully equivalent to English "happy", plus there are just some issues with the idiomatic formulas of wishing).

If I may, I'd rather propose "с наступающими праздниками" (lit. "with upcoming holidays"), which is also sufficiently impersonal.

 

[Manon C]

I must note that while the translation is basically correct and doesn't sound outright weird, it still isn't quite idiomatic. Normally I'd rather expect wishing "to spend the holidays pleasantly / with luck", or just congratulations "with the upcoming holidays"; wishing "happy something" sounds more like a calque from English (Russian "счастли́вый" isn't fully equivalent to English "happy", plus there are just some issues with the idiomatic formulas of wishing).

If I may, I'd rather propose "с наступающими праздниками" (lit. "with upcoming holidays"), which is also sufficiently impersonal.

Thank you so much for the explanations, it's very interesting to know the language differences ! So I put "с наступающими праздниками" on my work. The "с" at the beginning means "with", that's it ?


Have a good day !

 

[Awwal12]

The "с" at the beginning means "with", that's it ?

Yes, with the following noun phrase in the instrumental case.

 

[Määränpää]

(We don't say "Merry christmas" but only "happy holidays")

I really don't think there's a religion-neutral word for the Christmas holidays in Finnish, sorry. And anyway the Finnish word for Christmas (joulu) comes from Germanic pagan culture (Yule) and has nothing to do with Christianity, so I don't see why non-Christians should find it oppressive.

 

[Stoggler]

“Happy Holidays” as an expression hasn’t caught on in Britain, it’s always “Happy/Merry Christmas”. “Happy Holidays” sounds American to my ears.

 

[Perseas]

“Happy Holidays” as an expression hasn’t caught on in Britain, it’s always “Happy/Merry Christmas”. “Happy Holidays” sounds American to my ears.

To me "Happy Holidays" would include the period from Christmas till the first day (or some more) of the new year. Does Br.E. use "Happy/Merry Christmas" for all that period?

 

[merquiades]

To me "Happy Holidays" would include the period from Christmas till the first day (or some more) of the new year. Does Br.E. use "Happy/Merry Christmas" for all that period?

The heightened use of "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" is due to the fact it includes the entire period from around the beginning of December to about January 6th and includes all Christian, Jewish, African and non religious/pagan/ atheist celebrations like Winter Solstice, Santa Claus, New Year's Eve... etc. So you can feel free to wish Happy Holidays to anyone and be sure to please them and/or not upset them.

 

[Awwal12]

The heightened use of "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" is due to the fact it includes the entire period from around the beginning of December to about January 6th and includes all Christian, Jewish, African and non religious/pagan/ atheist celebrations like Winter Solstice, Santa Claus, New Year's Eve... etc.

Chinese New Year occurs from late January to late February depending on the year.
Russians may celebrate (unofficially at least) down to Julian Orthodox Theophany (January 19, when many Russians traditionally do ice swimming), which incorporates January 7 (Julian Orthodox Christmas) and January 13 (Old New Year). The eight days from January 1 to January 8 are state holidays in Russia (exactly "the holidays").

 

[elroy]

Arabic:

كل عام وأنتم بخير!

German : Frohe festtage !

You need to capitalize the second word, and there’s no space before the exclamation point:

Frohe Festtage!

 

[ThomasK]

Dutch: "prettige vakantie", where "pret" is "fun" (as in a fun park). It is the standard expression, as far as I can see...

We would not say "vrolijke" (like German "froh", because we only get vrolijk after drinking some alcohol, something like merry, but it might be different in German). I'd love to hear more about whether the words correspond to the "Happy holidays". I imagine it used to be "Enjoy your holiday" before. Or...? I do assume they are used in the same way, as some kind of standard wish at that period, but...

Just like joyeuse fêtes. Are you sure those fêtes are holidays? There is a link, obviously, but... Next: how happy/ merry are we when we are joyeux? Any native speaker of French in the room?

 

[merquiades]

Not quite a native but have been here long enough to know that Joyeuses fêtes de fin d'année! is the equivalent of Happy holidays! People say it all the time.

 

[ThomasK]

That is what I meant: it is some kind of an equivalent, but not a "straightforward" translation.

 

[merquiades]

That is what I meant: it is some kind of an equivalent, but not a "straightforward" translation.

For me, fêtes and holidays seem like an equivalent. What do you call the period of time between December and January in Dutch or Belgian Dutch?

 

[ThomasK]

Well, there is an etymological connection: holy days were holidays, for one. But we only say Prettige feesten, we never celebrate holidays, whereas the Dutch do use the phrase "vakantie vieren" (when referring to having a holiday): to celebrate a holiday. We do say "Prettige vakantie" AND r "Prettige/... feesten" (the traditional politically correct term), but as for me they are not interchangeable and it will be similar to most Belgians...

Addition: I think we distinguish between the festivities and the holiday period associated with that...