many happy returns

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Many happy returns to Kirk Douglas, who is a hundred years old today.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 9, 2016

While the children sang "Happy Birthday to You" and shouted "Many happy returns," Doc Dobbin bobbed his head, ate all the apples, gobbled the whole cake in three Gargantuan bites.

From Time Magazine Archive

“It will make sense to you one day. Many happy returns of the day.”

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

The simple visiting card is usually sufficient, though a "Merry Christmas," "Happy New Year," or "Many happy returns of the day," may be penciled beneath the name.

From Social Life or, The Manners and Customs of Polite Society by Cooke, Maud C.

There were more greetings, more "Merry Christmas" and "Many happy returns."

From A Tale of a Lonely Parish by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023