A popular YouTuber has sparked a debate after stating that saying "Merry Christmas" is actually a "highly offensive" term.
Patrick Shyu, a YouTuber with nearly 1.5 million subscribers and former tech lead for Google and Meta, decided to use the Christmas period to cause uproar on Twitter by raining on everyone's festive parade.
Christmas is a stressful time for many, whether they celebrate the holiday or not. It can be a financial burden and those who work in retail and hospitality often find themselves ran ragged by the business of the season. Additionally, it is also a time of the year where many people are unable to see their families for a variety of reasons.
That being said, many people relish the holiday period, spending plenty of time with loved ones and perhaps overindulging in food and drink.
But Shyu claims that he finds the term "Merry Christmas" highly offensive, and we should start looking for more suitable greetings during the holiday period.
Shyu penned in a tweet: "I find ‘Merry Christmas’ highly offensive. The holidays cause stress, depression, and mental health issues for 25-40% of people. It’s like a ‘merriness contest’ on social media to force happiness, and a Western subversion of every other culture."
Despite highlighting a very real and serious issue, Shyu then revealed that he personally had a very good Christmas, which he detailed in a follow-up tweet that caused further upset.
He said: "To be clear, I’m having a supremely happy Christmas. Probably 100x better than yours and would cause mass-depression and carnage if I were to share such unimaginable joy on social media and then say, ‘oh, happy holidays to u too, lol.’ I’m trying to save your life by refraining."
As humble as Shyu clearly is, various Twitter users mocked his claims, with many people responding to his tweet with "Merry Christmas" - and one user even wished him a merry Christmas in multiple languages.
A second user added: "You know what else most people find highly offensive? People who run around looking for ridiculous things to be offended by."
"Then you'll just have to learn to cope with being offended," another person wrote. "I know you're young, but one of these days, you're going to have to realize that you're not the most important person on the planet, and humans can be offensive. Let it go and move on."
Another person poked fun at Shyu's claims: "I find 'hope you’re having a good week' highly offensive. I’m not having a good week, how dare you be nice to me!"
Hopefully, everyone still had a good Christmas, though we will never find out how good Shyu's was because it would only cause "carnage" if he told us.
Of course, the Christmas period is a time that many people do find difficult.
If you would like advice on how you can care for your mental health over the Christmas period, visit Mind.org.uk.
