Between now and the new year, a lot of people hope to be meeting up with friends and family, and to be able to celebrate and have fun (to some extent). It’s likely that you already know the basic holiday greetings:
“Happy Christmas!” or “Merry Christmas!”
“Happy holidays!”
“Happy new year!”
But in these Covid Times, here are a few more phrases that I think we might all find useful in the coming days:
Accepting/declining invitations:
Can I let you know on Christmas Day?
“I’d love to join you but I’m visiting my grandma tomorrow, so I should at home today”.
“Thank you so much for the invitation but I sneezed once when I woke up this morning, so I’d best stay at home.”
“Can we do a hybrid?” (To which any sane person would instantly reply, “No.”)
Gifts
“Oh, a mask with pink and yellow snowmen on it. How…lovely!”
“Cinnamon spice hand gel. Oooooh, thank you!”
“A multi-pack of lateral flow tests – how kind of you!”
General phrases
I know it’s -6°C and there’s a storm outside, but do you mind if we open a window?
“Did you lick the envelope on this Christmas card? If so, I’m afraid I can’t accept it. But thank you for the good wishes.”
“We’re not playing scrabble this year; I didn’t have time to disinfect all the letters. So let’s hum some Christmas songs instead.”
And of course, when you’re trying to learn a language and everyone is wearing masks, here is the most crucial phrase you’re likely to need over the holiday period and probably far, far beyond that:
“Sorry, could you repeat that, please?”
Happy holidays everyone 😊
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