Christmas or Xmas

[Natt]

I was asked today why Christmas is sometimes written as Xmas.

I've heard two theories of this

One being that it is people wanting to take the Christ out of Christmas

and the other being that X is translated as Christ in Greek.

What are opinions on this?

[sweetycakes]

I was asked today why Christmas is sometimes written as Xmas.

I've heard two theories of this

One being that it is people wanting to take the Christ out of Christmas

and the other being that X is translated as Christ in Greek.

What are opinions on this?

I brought this topic up on an atheist forum recently, thinking, mistakenly, that it was a modern phenomena of today's decadent and anti-Christian society and customs.

I got a right ear-bashing.

They referred me to quite a number of sites showing that this practice has been going on since about the middle ages, which surprised me.

Still, I don't agree with 'crossing Christ out of Christmas', and I never write it as such.

Happy CHRISTMAS!

[Marnie]

Actually the "X" is a shortening of the Greek for "Christ," so technically you aren't leaving Him out of anything.

The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "XP" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as 1021 AD. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ), used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ") (see Labarum), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ.

Source (and they got it right!)

[mikado5001]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

'nuff said

[alanraj]

Nothing wrong with either.Just keep Christ in ur Celebrations!

[Floatingaxe]

Maybe it is a greek symbol for Christ, but the masses don't know that. Best to keep it CHRISTmas!

[stitchy]

Oh wow. I don't know why but I always just assumed it was written xmas because the "chris" part of Christmas sounds like the "criss" in "criss-cross"... which is what an X is.

Interesting! I like CHRISTmas though.

[Scum_of_the_Earth]

Oops, I thought the X was latin. But I did know that it was an abbreviation for Christ. Doesn't bother me to see Xmas, and when I'm in a hurry, that's how I write it.

Considering that Christ was born in the summer and not december, and that we stole the holiday for ourselves from the pagans, it doesn't much matter to me how it's written or celebrated or anything. It's a nice time of the year, and I enjoy spending it with my family and giving gifts, but as far as Christ is concerned, December 25 is no more significant to me and my faith than any of the rest of the 364 days of the year.

[EricH]

Oops, I thought the X was latin. But I did know that it was an abbreviation for Christ. Doesn't bother me to see Xmas, and when I'm in a hurry, that's how I write it.

Considering that Christ was born in the summer and not december, and that we stole the holiday for ourselves from the pagans, it doesn't much matter to me how it's written or celebrated or anything. It's a nice time of the year, and I enjoy spending it with my family and giving gifts, but as far as Christ is concerned, December 25 is no more significant to me and my faith than any of the rest of the 364 days of the year.

X is for the greek letter "chi" which is the first letter in the greek word for Christ (christos)