After an argument the
Dec 11 2001
After an argument the other day about whether Xmas is a debasement of Christmas,
I took it upon myself to find the origin of the abbreviation. As I suspected,
the X does not stem from some pagan disrespect for the Christian holiday. Instead,
the abbreviation is of Greek origin. During the 16th century, Europeans began
using the first initial of Greek word Xristos, meaning Christ, as a shorthand
form of the word. The substitution was, at the time, widely understood, but today
its origins are lost and it is often wrongly taken as a sign of disrespect. If
an abbreviation still offends the religious sentiments of some, surely no one
objects to crosses that bear the engraving IC XC sinc that abbreviation for Iesous
Khristos commits the same sin as the word Xmas. So for those who celebrate
Xmas, you may now continue to do so without shame. In fact, fix another cup of
Xmas cider; your eternal soul is safe (for now).