Christmas or Xmas?

(Originally published on Christmaswatch on November 15, 2007)

If you've ever been told off by a parent for writing Xmas in your Christmas thankyou letters, then this is for you. If you've ever been criticied for abbreviation for writing Xmas, then this is for you. If you just love the wonderful world of words, then you're in the right place.

I can distinctly remember being called lazy for writing Xmas in a letter to my Nan when I was about ten. The argument put forward was that Xmas is an abbreviation and should not be used when the full word is better.

Sadly, it took me over twenty years to discover the answer I should have given to my mother.

There are many people who argue against Xmas as an insult to the 'true meaning of Christmas', namely the birth of Christ. This argument actually is not even half right and shows a misunderstanding of the nature of Biblical writing over the centuries.

Substituting an X for Christ is not, as some would suggest, an attempt to 'cross out Christ from Christmas'. It also isn't an attempt to create a distinctly different holiday to differentiate between the holy Christmas and the retail Xmas, as has also been suggested.

X has been used as a substitution for Christ since at least the fifteenth Century and came into more common usage with the arrival of the printing press. With each letter needing to be placed and set by hand, printing became more expensive when more letters were used. This meant that many abbreviations became more popular, including the replacement of Christ in church pamphlets and hymn books with 'C'.

The X variation dates back further and is related to Christian symbols scratched into roman catacombs. X became a potent Christian symbol, in much the same way as the fish symbol does today. So when printers came into operation, the expensive Christmas was often written as the far cheaper Xmas, even though – and this is the important point – they are still pronounced the same.

That's right –- you should never say 'exmas'. Although the X symbol bears an uncanny likeness to our letter X and has therefore become synonymous with it, it actually is a different symbol and is pronounced 'Christ'.

So next time you are berated for writing the word Xmas, hold your head high in the knowledge that you are actually perpetuating an obscure character with ancient etymology.

Then again, if you utter the word 'exmas', you’re on your own.