‘Tis the season when some Christians take umbrage at Xmas. Not at the holiday; at the spelling.
Some think that using “X” instead of writing “Christ” is either a liberal or commercial attempt to demean the name of the holiday or to make the word easier to fit into ads. ‘Tis a reasonable assessment from their point of view.
Alas, it’s an incorrect assessment.
Christians themselves are responsible for Xmas. They created the abbreviation and have used an abbreviation of the Greek for at least 1,000 years. Χριστος was ancient Greek for “Christ.” Eventually, that was shortened to ☧ (CHI RHO). By at least the 1480s, it had become X.
For centuries, well-known theologians and scholars like Oliver Wendell Holmes, Samuel Coleridge and Lewis Carol wrote “Xmas” with impunity. Not until the late 1950s did some Christians, who obviously didn’t know the abbreviation’s honorable history, begin a concerted effort to vilify “Xmas.” ‘Twas a shame, because now many people don’t write “Xmas” (pronounced Christmas, not Ex-mas) for fear of being chastised.
If you, like Christians for more than a millennium, choose to use Xmas, do so confidently; but be prepared to defend yourself.
To everyone, I wish happy holidays (which dates to the 1860s).
Julene E. Fisher, West Valley City
