Poll: Most Americans say "Merry Christmas" during holiday season

NEW YORK -- Although it's been said many times, many ways, a new poll shows "Merry Christmas" remains the top holiday greeting among Americans, CBS New York reports. "Christmas is on everybody's tongue," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, who ran a poll on the most popular holiday greeting. 

"Supposedly a war against Christmas, but 67 percent say that at this time of year, 'Merry Christmas' is the greeting that they tend to use," said Murray.

Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said "Happy Holidays" is their seasonal greeting of choice. In third place -- with just 4 percent -- are those who don't say any holiday greeting at all. 

The poll also asked Americans about their favorite animated holiday special. "Rudolph gets 32 percent of the vote, Charlie Brown gets 25 percent, the Grinch comes in third at 14, and Frosty the Snowman at 12," Murray said.

The poll was conducted by telephone from Dec. 10-12, 2017, among a random sample of 806 adults in the United States. The margin of error of is +/- 3.5 percent.

When it comes to how Americans feel about holiday greetings, a growing portion say it doesn't matter how they are greeted in businesses and stores, whether with greetings like "Happy Holidays," or "Merry Christmas," according to the Pew Research Center. 

The center also found that 56 percent of U.S. adults believe the religious aspects of Christmas are not emphasized as much in American society as they once were. A declining majority believes religious displays should be permitted on government property.