180 years ago today (December 19,
1843) Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was first published and all 6,000
copies were sold out by Christmas Eve of that year.
The phrase "Merry
Christmas" had been around for many years – the earliest known written use
was in a letter in 1534 – but Dickens's use of the phrase in “A Christmas Carol”
popularized it among the Victorian public.
The exclamation "Bah!
Humbug!" entered popular use in the English Language as a retort to
anything sentimental or overly festive and the name "Scrooge" became
used as a designation for a Miser and was added to the Oxford English
Dictionary as such in 1982.
Since 1844 it has never been out
of print, has been translated into a number of languages and has spanned into
many adaptations for the Theater, Radio, Film and TV.
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