Put Down Your Pitchforks

With Christmas a mere nine days away, the “war on Christmas” is in full swing.  Except, as I pointed out previously, there really is no “war on Christmas” at all.  Nope.

“But,” you might say, “stores put ‘X-mas’ on displays, and that shows that they are taking the ‘Christ’ out!”  Wrong.  Put down your pitchfork and learn something (I just learned this myself, but I have to admit that I am not offended at all by “Christmas,”  “X-mas,” or “Happy Holidays” either).

As it turns out, using the abbreviation “X-mas” is not really taking Christ out at all; in fact, it harkens back to the 1500s (as least) and is rooted in Greek (source).  In Greek, the letter “X” is pronounced “Chi,” which itself is shortened from “Christos.”  For more, I recommend reading a blog with an aptly titled tagline, “Feed Your Brain.”  There is a really solid explanation there.

But, before you get offended the next time you see “X-mas” displayed somewhere, tell yourself that the display honors the Greek spelling and move merrily along.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!