Xmas<\/p>\n
This form, which strikes most of us as modern, is actually old, and it is certainly not, as some suggest, a modern plot against Christmas: “Who took Christ <\/em>out of Christmas<\/em>?” The OED’s first recorded use of Xmas<\/em> for Christmas <\/em>dates back to 1551. But the use of X for Christ <\/em>is even older. Its first recorded use (in English) dates back to 1021, and it was used by a monk, not by a secularist, transcribing a classical manuscript into Old English. The use of X is simply due to the fact that this is the first letter of\u00a0Christ <\/em>in Greek, \u03a7\u03a1\u0399\u03a3\u03a4\u039f\u03a3, and \u03a7\u03a1 or just \u03a7 were used from early times onwards as a short form of referring to Christ. (O’Conner 2010: 77)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Xmas This form, which strikes most of us as modern, is actually old, and it is certainly not, as some suggest, a modern plot against Christmas: “Who took Christ out of Christmas?” The OED’s first recorded use of Xmas for … Continue reading