Comments on: Xmas http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/ A Mormon Blog Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:01:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: jjohnsen http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19263 Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:34:44 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19263

t may not be blasphemous, but it’s certainly lazy.

Every time we abbreviate something we’re lazy?

]]> By: MikeInWeHo http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19262 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:45:30 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19262 re: 23
I think the Evangelicals are already using it.
Xtreme Xianity 2007 !!!!

]]> By: Lamonte http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19261 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:38:29 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19261 Kevin – Thanks for this informative post. I had no idea of the history and symbolism of the X in Xmas. I wonder, however, if all those who tend to use Xmas have your understanding of those facts.

]]> By: JamesP http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19260 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 13:31:04 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19260 It may not be blasphemous, but it’s certainly lazy.

]]> By: Johnna http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19259 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:13:10 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19259 “Xian” always looks to me like the extreme sport mode of Christianity.

]]> By: Jonathan Green http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19258 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 01:37:20 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19258 For European Christmas markets, I have three suggestions.

1. A decently large market will have its own section for children. In Nuremberg, at least, the children’s Christmas market is less crowded and has more fun things for the kids.

2. Lots of smaller cities and towns have Christmas markets, too. They’ll be less crowded and often more charming.

3. For the big markets, go on December 23 or whenever the last day is. That’s when the locals bother to show up.

]]> By: Kevin Barney http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19257 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:51:04 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19257 I believe the correct pronunciation of Xmas is “Christmas” (not ecksmas). It is a visual abbreviation of the full name.

Xmas certainly derives from the longstanding Christian tradition of abbreviating XPICTOC(Christos) with X.

]]> By: a random John http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19256 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 23:18:52 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19256 The problem, at least as I see it, is simply a function of ignorance of historic religious symbolism and iconography. The X in Xmas is not an English genericizing element, as in Brand X or Malcolm X or x as a variable in an algebraic equation. Rather, it represents the Greek letter chi (which looks like an X), which is the first letter in christos, “Christ,” the Greek translation used in the New Testament for Hebrew mashiach, “messiah, anointed one.”

I’m ok with the ancient use of X to mean Christ, but that doesn’t imply that the originators of Xmas were aware of this use, does it? Does anybody have any info on the term Xmas itself?

]]> By: smb http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19255 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:55:05 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19255 I’m generally the last one to object to esoteric philology, and I personally am a big fan of the ichthism (sorry, had to make up that word), but I think the more relevant question to deciding whether to go with BRM on this controversy is not its distant etymology but its current use. I’d be interested in some empirical data on whether, regardless of its origin, Xmas is preferentially used by secular Americans or Evangelicals or lip gloss salespeople, how it’s pronounced (“Eks-mass”, “Khi-mass”, or “Christmas”), and how it’s perceived by the general public.

]]> By: Melissa De Leon Mason http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/14/xmas/#comment-19254 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:06:39 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/12/xmas/#comment-19254 Pyotr- I remember visiting the Christkindlmarket in Brussels and having the same feelings as you had at the Viennese market. The hordes of tourists following a guide holding up an umbrella made the Belgian markets seem much more frantic and frustrating and definitely didn’t add to the Xmas spirit.

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