Is メリー mainly used in the set phrase メリークリスマス?


Is the gairaigo メリー mainly used in the set phrase メリークリスマス (Merry Christmas!)
or can it be used without the クリスマス to mean "merry", such as 私はメリーです to say "I
am feeling merry"?

There's also メリーゴーランド (merry-go-round), but that's more like a transliteration
of a single noun.

If it's mainly used in the set phrase, is there a term for loanwords used only
in set phrases?

**Note** : The answer notes that メリークリスマス is not a set phrase after all.




In ordinary daily-life Japanese at the moment, `メリー` only means a person's
name 'Mary' or 'Merry'. And even for 'Mary', it is usually written as `メアリー`,
and `メリー` is seen only in a few established expressions like `メリーさんの羊` 'Mary's
little lamb', `メリーポピンズ` 'Mary Poppins', or `クイーンメリー 2` 'Queen Mary 2'. Also
'Merry' is not much popular name, and is limited as in `メリー喜多川` 'Merry
Kitagawa'. Other than that, `メリー` cannot be seen as a word in ordinary daily-
life Japanese.

`メリークリスマス` is a gairaigo (crucially, not wasei-eigo) that originated from
`Merry Christmas`, which means that you cannot divide `メリークリスマス` into its
parts and make sense. The original English expression `Merry Christmas` can be
divided into `merry` and `Christmas`, but dividing the Japanese word
`メリークリスマス` into `メリー` and `クリスマス` is no different from dividing it into `メ`
and `リークリスマス`; it does not make sense, and these parts do not have any terms
by which they are referred to. `クリスマス` is another gairaigo that originated
from `Christmas`.




In ordinary daily-life Japanese at the moment, `メリー` only means a person's
name 'Mary' or 'Merry'. And even for 'Mary', it is usually written as `メアリー`,
and `メリー` is seen only in a few established expressions like `メリーさんの羊` 'Mary's
little lamb', `メリーポピンズ` 'Mary Poppins', or `クイーンメリー 2` 'Queen Mary 2'. Also
'Merry' is not much popular name, and is limited as in `メリー喜多川` 'Merry
Kitagawa'. Other than that, `メリー` cannot be seen as a word in ordinary daily-
life Japanese.

`メリークリスマス` is a gairaigo (crucially, not wasei-eigo) that originated from
`Merry Christmas`, which means that you cannot divide `メリークリスマス` into its
parts and make sense. The original English expression `Merry Christmas` can be
divided into `merry` and `Christmas`, but dividing the Japanese word
`メリークリスマス` into `メリー` and `クリスマス` is no different from dividing it into `メ`
and `リークリスマス`; it does not make sense, and these parts do not have any terms
by which they are referred to. `クリスマス` is another gairaigo that originated
from `Christmas`.

