Like what you see? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get daily updates!
Or hear for an explanation about RSS, thank you for visiting.
Christmas has passed, these days most just see it as another and over marketed (see my post on the origins of Santa Claus). As a kid of a sign writer who did plenty of Christmas signs and as a designer who sees many Christmas websites etc I see plenty of Xmas instead of Christmas. As a church kid I was told this was wrong but is it really?
What I was told about Xmas
I am sure most other Christians or religious people have been told the same and that is that the cross or ‘X’ is crossing or taking out Christ from Christmas. We all know its the case with more Santa’s than Jesus’ on cards, wrapping paper and other Christmas related items SO does this mean the X crosses out Christ?
Where the X in Xmas comes from?
No it does not come from some anti-Christian but rather the X in Xmas is actually the greek letter Chi, which was a common abbreviation of Kristos, Christ’s name. (Using the roman alphabet, I’ve also seen it written Xpistos. In greek, I believe that would be Χριστος.).
Why then do we use Xmas?
As I said before, my father is a signwriter and as a kid I remember him having to write “Merry Christmas” in this tiny window for a splash sign, so of course he wrote “Merry Xmas” as its shorter and allowed it to be bigger and more effective. So yes its just a short hand easier option.
My thoughts and what I suggest
Personally I still use ‘Christmas’ as it is all about Christ and while the ‘X’ does not mean you are crossing out Christ, Christ in Christmas is for me a better option. What is your thoughts and what do you personally use?
8 comments so far
Leave a reply