Many happy returns is a birthday greeting, a way of saying Happy birthday. The full form is many happy returns of the day: may this day come back to you happily many more times, in other words, may you live a long life. It sounds warmer and more formal than Happy birthday and often appears in birthday cards.
When would you say many happy returns?
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Many happy returns!; many happy returns (of the day); wish someone many happy returns; Happy birthday and many happy returns!
- Many happy returns, Grandma! We've booked a table at your favourite restaurant tonight.
- The whole office signed a card for Tom's fortieth birthday that said 'Many happy returns'.
What changed
First versionYou got the promotion? Many happy returns!
RevisionYou got the promotion? Congratulations!
It's easy to read returns as profits or good fortune and treat the phrase as congratulations on any success. But what comes back is the birthday itself, so people don't say it about a promotion, a new flat or a passed exam. For a success there's Congratulations, and that's what replaced it.
Happy birthday works for anyone, anywhere, from a card for a colleague to a message to a friend. Many happy returns is often added to it as a warm follow-up: Happy birthday and many happy returns! On its own, the phrase sounds a little more formal and old-fashioned.
Your turn
It's my dad's sixtieth birthday today, so I'll call him in the morning and wish him ___.
Show the answer
many happy returns — It's the speaker's dad's birthday, and he's being wished a long life, so many happy returns. Good luck is what you wish someone before an exam or an interview, not on their birthday.
Write a short birthday card message to a friend or relative. Say how old they're turning and add one wish.
Happy 25th birthday, Max, and many happy returns! I hope this year brings you the trip to Japan you've been dreaming about.
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