Features > Keep Chi in Christmas: Why There's Nothing Wrong With Xmas
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Keep Chi in Christmas: Why There's Nothing Wrong With Xmas

By Robyn Broyles, December 24, 2009 18:57



Christmas not Xmas"It's Christmas, not Xmas." This sanctimonious phrase is the basis for Facebook groups, badly-rhymed doggerel, and even a song by Arrah and the Ferns ("Merry Christmas not Xmas"). It's apparently a topic of interest to thousands; the search term "xmas christmas" was typed into Google 74,000 times in November. But Xmas isn't an expression of anti-Christian censorship nor of modern laziness.

The X in Xmas is the Greek letter chi, not the English letter ex. Chi is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ, Χριστός (Christós). Its use as abbreviation for Jesus Christ dates to before the days of the Roman Emperor Constantine, whose symbol was the chi-rho (XP or ☧, also called the labarum). Abbreviations like this have an ancient provenance, and many are still well-known:

 

  • IHΣ (IHS), the first three letters of the name "Jesus" in Greek
  • INRI, four letters representing the Latin inscription on the Crucifix "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews"
  • ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthus), which means "fish" in Greek but also represents the first letters of the Greek phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior"
Using the X (chi, not ex) as an abbreviation for Christ is ancient not just in the classical languages, but also in English. It appeared in 12th-century passages written in Old English (i.e. two "generations" removed from modern English).
Some modern critics of Xmas complain that it's disrespectful and lazy (do an Internet search to find multiple examples in blogs and forums). Well, if it was good enough for the ancient Xtians, it's good enough for me.
For a lot more detail on this subject, read "Putting the X back in Xmas" from the blog Motivated Grammar. At least read the comments... they're priceless.

 

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