many happy returns
Also, many happy returns of the day. Happy birthday and many more of them, as in I came by to wish you many happy returns. This expression was first recorded in a letter of 1779 where the writer meant “Happy New Year,” but the present meaning has persisted since the second half of the 1800s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use many happy returns in a sentence
Across the top of the large mirror he saw "Welcome," in letters of evergreen, and a chorus of "many happy returns!"
The Story of the Big Front Door | Mary Finley Leonardmany happy returns of the day to you—(it was the first of the new year)—I never spent so miserable a one.
The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson | Robert SoutheyI suppose we are both getting too old to care about being wished many happy returns of the day.
George Eliot's Life, Vol. III (of 3) | George EliotI am wishing Margaret many happy returns of this day, and am making a picture of you all keeping the little fte.
George Eliot's Life, Vol. III (of 3) | George EliotI have a chance of sending this to England to be posted, so I must send you a line to wish you many happy returns of the day.
My War Experiences in Two Continents | Sarah Macnaughtan
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