Merry X-mas!

Grey Mountain wrote:
The Greek work for Christ is (transliterated) Xristos. As said, the "X" is the Greek "Chi," pronounced with a bit of a gutteral sound. Xristos/Christ in Greek means "The Annointed One." The Hebrew counterpart is "Messiach," which comes to us as Messiah. In the NT, both are used.
The "X" was used also in early Christian days to indicate Christians.

GM

Yatasay Grey Mountain,

Sorry .....it's the only native American word I know, and sorry for that Manifest Destiny thing.

I always wondered where the X came from. So it isn't a derogatory thing after all.

Thanks for the info.

The Greek work for Christ is (transliterated) Xristos. As said, the "X" is the Greek "Chi," pronounced with a bit of a gutteral sound. Xristos/Christ in Greek means "The Annointed One." The Hebrew counterpart is "Messiach," which comes to us as Messiah. In the NT, both are used.
The "X" was used also in early Christian days to indicate Christians.

GM

Escargot wrote:
I'd tend to be more interested in putting "Christ" back in Christian, than I would about putting "Christ" back in Christmas.

Excellent point! And to the poster who explained where the "X" in Xmas came from, thank you! I knew it was actually an old tradition, older than the secularization of Christmas, but that was all I knew

I'd tend to be more interested in putting "Christ" back in Christian, than I would about putting "Christ" back in Christmas.

All that may be true, but I like "Christmas" better.

Thanks X2. I never knew that before and it makes the common misconception a lot less sinister.
How interesting to know this has been around since the 16th century. Merry Christmas!

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas . It is sometimes pronounced /??ksm?s/, but it, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /?kr?sm?s/. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass, while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word ??????? which comes into English as "Christ".

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

(more)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

So Merry Xmas, Merry Christmas, take your pick, but either one, enjoy the day!

Interesting and informing. Thank You.

Forget controversary today :)


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE and enjoy the day with family and friends.
SMILE ALL! It is a wonderful day!

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas . It is sometimes pronounced /??ksm?s/, but it, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /?kr?sm?s/. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass, while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word ??????? which comes into English as "Christ".

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

(more)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

So Merry Xmas, Merry Christmas, take your pick, but either one, enjoy the day!

When we had to take Christ out of Christmas because a few non-believers were offended