xmas

[tavrin]

Xmas
This abbreviation for Christmas is of Greek origin. The word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. During the 16th century, Europeans began using the first initial of Christ's name, "X" in place of the word Christ in Christmas as a shorthand form of the word. Although the early Christians understood that X stood for Christ's name, later Christians who did not understand the Greek language mistook "Xmas" as a sign of disrespect.

 

[whitewolf53]

Well as far as i am concerned it is CHRISTMAS.THE REST IS GREEK TO ME.
Maybe you are one of the ones who says HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO THE MASSES SO YOU WON'T OFFEND ANYONE!!!.

Mike
Whitewolf 53

 

[greg334]

I may be really mistaken about this.

I thought that the Anglicized/latinized version of ΧÏιστός is Christós.

And I thought that the 16th century use of Greek text was only at the academia level (Textus Receptus) and Greek Orthodox Church, most churches used either Biblia Sacra Vulgatae Editionis, Luther Bible, Wyclif's Bible or a native form of the Biblia Sacra Vulgatae Editionis.

But I may be wrong about it all.

 

[ATeam]

Wow! I studied ancient Greek in college and seminary. You guys are leaving me in the dust. How quickly we forget. (Well, maybe not that quickly, it has been 30 years, but I'm embarassed to remember so little from those years of study.) It would likely come back to me with some study and review. Sigh....one more thing on the To-Do list; re-learn ancient Greek so I can keep up with my trucking buddies.

 

[greg334]

Phil,
Nothing to be embarrassed about, if you don't use it you lose it. How many times have you used Greek?

Well I pulled my Greek versions of the bible, one Koine Greek and the other Modern Greek to refresh my Greek – boy do I have to go back to school!

I am short on my Latin and Hebrew too, I got the Bibles and other sources but haven’t had he time to relearn languages.

I ran across a TV show (I think in Charlotte) with a female preacher who was doing comparisons of the different versions of the Bible in different languages (Greek, Latin, Aramaic, etc..) pretty interesting show that illustrates the problems with the deviation of translations from original texts but I never wrote down her or the show name.

 

[slfisher45]

Gee. I thought it was so simple. The X was always short for criss cross.
On another note, Chris Cross is the name of a high school friend of mine who signed her name with an X.
It seemed to fit.