"Merry Crimble"???

[Peter Johnson]

Someone wished me a "merry crimble" today. Wikipedia and Dictionary.com come up empty; other searches lead me to pages upon pages of people wishing each other a "merry crimble."

What does it mean?

[Quincy]

It comes from a Beatles fanclub Christmas message by John Lennon. "Gary Crimble to you..." MP3s of the fanclub recordings can probably be found online.

Here's the O.E.D. entry:

Crimble, n. DRAFT ENTRY Dec. 2002

Brit. slang.

Forms: 19- Chrimble, Crimble. Also with lower-case initial. [Humorous alteration of CHRISTMAS n., perh. reflecting childish speech. Cf. earlier CRIMBO n.]

Christmas. Cf. CRIMBO n.

1963 J. LENNON in Beatles Fan Club Recording in New Musical Express 6 Dec. 10/2 Garry Crimble to you, Garry Crimble to you, Garry Bable, Dear Christmas, Happy Birthday, me too! 1987 Just Seventeen 16 Dec. 6/2 Stevie's determined to have a well-wacky Crimble do. 1994 Sun Zoom Spark Dec. 22/3 Couldn't we just shut him in the attic and let him out for 12 days around Crimble along with the baubles and tinsel. 2002 Observer 6 Jan. (Business section) 7/8 As..only 300 digital radio sets were in the shops this Crimble, the company's performance on the stock market shouldn't really be a surprise.