The Secret Stead is the pen name of a UK-based writer and
The word for today is "Xmas".Xmas -noun
[kris-muhs or, often, eks-muhs]
Abbreviation for Christmas.
The chances are your seasonal greetings in the Christmas cards you write will not usually contain the word "Xmas". A recent discussion with a friend brought up the subject that this word is often found offensive - X-rated if you like - by some quarters. They associate its modern usage with materialism, marking Christmas as just another holiday rather than an important religious observance.
And my friend is right on one score; you won’t find Xmas in hymn books or even on the front of many greeting cards, and it's not used in formal writing. However, research suggests it's wrong to cast this word out: The history behind it is actually more respectable from a Christian point of view than you might expect. It's also a good reminder of the flexibility of X; a letter that can represent the sacred and the profane.
The Xmas Story
To begin with, the abbreviation for Christmas with the 24th letter of the alphabet isn't a modern invention of kitschy commercialism. It's said to have first been used in the mid 1500s. Now follow that with the reason why the letter "X" is used to represent "Christ". It's not due to the mechanics of laziness or to remove the word "Christ" as its critics believe; it's a device known as a Christogram. Coming from the Greek word Χριστός, which means "Christ", X is a thousand year symbol for Christ. Finally, the "mas" in Xmas is the Old English word for "mass". So, like its much used counterpart, Xmas literally means "Mass of Christ".
Next time you feel like using the word "Xmas" and someone disproves, you can set them straight on a word completely in tune with its religious meaning.
Published 15 December, 2010
