X-Mas or Christmas?

[18G]

I find it disturbing that people refer to Christmas as X-Mas. Are the people who refer to the holiday in this manner Atheist and intentionally intend to cross out Christ, or are they just too lazy to spell the word Christmas and in turn leave out the entire meaning of Christmas?

 

[Chimpie]

If I'm chatting with family and writing quickly - xmas

If I'm writing something long or formal - Christmas

Don't look into it too much.

 

[Aerin-Sol]

What exactly is the meaning of Christmas again? Excessive materialism? Continuing the Catholic tradition of repackaging pagan symbolism to attract believers? Celebrating the birth of someone who was most likely born in the summer? I say xmas for the same reasons I say xtian: I'm lazy & neither word has much to do with Christ.

 

[EMT11KDL]

I write x-mas to make it easy and cause of lazy.. But when it is formal I write christmas

 

[abckidsmom]

If I'm typing quickly I type cmas. Just a quirk of mine.

I don't post these type things on my facebook, I don't get worked up about it, and I really don't mind. If you are a Christ-follower, you'll say Christmas. If not, I am not holding you to my standard, or expecting you to behave as if you are a Christ-follower.

Abbreviations used as Christian symbols have a long history in the church. The letters of the word "Christ" in Greek, the language in which the New Testament was written, or various titles for Jesus early became symbols of Christ and Christianity. For example, the first two letters of the word Christ (cristoV, or as it would be written in older manuscripts, CRISTOS) are the Greek letters chi (c or C) and rho (r or R). These letters were used in the early church to create the chi-rho monogram (see Christian Symbols: Christmas Ornaments), a symbol that by the fourth century became part of the official battle standard of the emperor Constantine.

Follow this link. I think the greek characters aren't supported by the forum software.

 

[18G]

I posed my question more towards the ones who claim to believe in Christ yet still use "X-Mas". If you were truly looking for an abbreviation then why use an "X" which is standardized notation for subtracting or making absent?

Wouldn't C-Mas be a more logical choice for abbreviation?

It seems like a very minuscule thing to discuss but I think the undertone and origin of the X-mas abbreviation is something more than minuscule and am just curious as to the reasons people don't just spell it out or use C-mas.

 

[TransportJockey]

What exactly is the meaning of Christmas again? Excessive materialism? Continuing the Catholic tradition of repackaging pagan symbolism to attract believers? Celebrating the birth of someone who was most likely born in the summer? I say xmas for the same reasons I say xtian: I'm lazy & neither word has much to do with Christ.

This. It makes sense to me

 

[akflightmedic]

Found this response online in my search of this question....Not my words below...just a copy and paste


Xmas vs. Christmas : Xmas isn't the work of the devil.

OK, I grew up under the assumption that spelling Christmas as "Xmas" was a way of naming the holiday separate from its religious beginnings. I always kinda hated it, thinking that people were so averse to religion that they were x-ing out Christ's name. (Some kind of politically-correct thing like trying to change women to womyn.)

Plus, I figured it was catching on because it saved space when printing up signs

I was just dumb and wrong, and since I've heard others voice similar opinions, I thought I'd help to set the record straight: The X in Xmas is actually the greek letter Chi, which was a common abbreviation of Kristos, Christ's name. (Using the roman alphabet, I've also seen it written Xpistos. In greek, I believe that would be Χριστος.)

It is interesting to note, however, that my American Heritage English Dictionary does have the following Usage Note:

The abbreviation Xmas has been used for hundreds of years. In modern use it is considered informal and appropriate only in such commercial contexts as advertisements and signs.

 

[Akulahawk]

X-mas - I use it informally when I want/need to be speedy in writing or typing.
Christmas - I use it formally. That's every other time

I don't consider either to be any less than the other. Potato/potatoe...

 

[JJR512]

I posed my question more towards the ones who claim to believe in Christ yet still use "X-Mas". If you were truly looking for an abbreviation then why use an "X" which is standardized notation for subtracting or making absent?

Wouldn't C-Mas be a more logical choice for abbreviation?

It seems like a very minuscule thing to discuss but I think the undertone and origin of the X-mas abbreviation is something more than minuscule and am just curious as to the reasons people don't just spell it out or use C-mas.

To answer your questions and see the errors of your beliefs, you need to follow the link provided by abckidsmom in the post immediately prior to yours.

 

[HotelCo]

I'm an atheist, and I say christmas. The word has no religious meaning to me, so I say it.
When I'm typing though, I'll (usually) put X-mas.

 

[Simusid]

I'm also an atheist and I make absolutely no distinction between christmas and xmas. They mean the same to me and I use them interchangeably.

 

[WVEmt]

hmm. i always thought parents used xmas to hide the fact that they were talking about christmas around their kids. had no idea people think its anti christian. lol