Is It Ok To Use Xmas Instead Of Christmas
For example when we want to denote an unknown quantity we use the symbol x.
Is it ok to use xmas instead of christmas. My given name at birth was robert charles although before i was even taken home from the hospital my parents called me by my initials r c and nobody seems to be too scandalized by that. In the greek language and alphabet the letter that looks like an x is the greek letter chi χ pronounced kye it rhymes with eye which is the first letter of the greek word for christ christos. In the greek alphabet x is the symbol for the letter chi chi or x is the first letter in the greek. While it is undeniable that some use xmas in that manner the actual origin of the word xmas has nothing to do with taking christ out of christmas.
There are many who view the word xmas as part of an overall war on christmas they view it as a blatant attempt to take christ out of christmas. We are not bound under the roman catholic church to keep it or use its terminology. Some christians today disliking the connotations of the original mass term instead treat the mass portion of christmas as a call to be missionaries sent into the world. Christmas has many different meanings and is not originally a christian holiday but the celebration of the sun.
Before we explain this let us first discover where the x in xmas came from and then provide a little history. Is it wrong to say xmas instead of christmas answer. As christmas comes from christ mass the church service that celebrated the birth of jesus but that is not quite right. In greek the twenty second letter of their alphabet is written as x the x of xmas.
X can mean so many things. The word christmas comes from the combination of the words christ and mass but where did the x in xmas come from and what does it mean. We see xmas written nearly everywhere from holiday advertisements to christmas cards. More exactly it was celebrating the fact that d.
Abbreviating the word christmas to xmas does not cut jesus short as your emailed question suggested. Every holiday season newspapers malls and television commercials urge you to take advantage of xmas sales and specials the word xmas is easier to use in advertisements and as a result it s become associated with the commercialization of christmas. In the 17th century the puritans had laws forbidding the celebration of christmas unlike the catholic church or the anglican church the latter from which they separated. The celebration of christmas became mandated by the roman empire in the 5th century.
The x in christmas is used like the r in r c.