[net.misc] The "x" in xmas

rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (12/17/83)

Whatever "theories" people may advance as to the origin of the 'x' in
xmas, the fact is that it is not a Roman letter but the Greek letter
x (chi).  In Greek, the word "christ" is spelled xpistos (chi rho iota
sigma tau omicron sigma).  There is no doubt among linguists and
informed historians that this is in fact THE origin of "xmas".
-- 
        Roger Noe            UUCP:  ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
                             ARPA:  ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe@berkeley

aeq@pucc-h (Sargent) (12/17/83)

I believe the "X" was used because it looks like the Greek letter Chi, which
is the first letter of Xpistos (that second letter is rho) [*].  And Christmas
is undoubtedly short for "Christ's mass".  (There's a less famous "contracted"
holiday name, Michaelmas, also.  I don't know a thing about the holiday except
the name, so don't ask.)

[*] Looks like we need some means of sending Greek characters over the net and
to our terminals.  How about someone devising a Greek American Standard Code
for Information Interchange (GASCII)?  :-)

-- Jeff Sargent/...pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq

lmc@denelcor.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (12/17/83)

NO, no, no. The "X" is a transliteration of the Greek letter chi, pronounced
"key", which has the pronunciation of "ch". It is indeed the first letter in
the Greek rendering of our English "Christ". The Catholic Church still uses
the symbol chi-rho (looks like a capitol P with a small x superimposed),
meaning (in Latin, Christus Rex, or Christ the king).
-- 

			Lyle McElhaney
			...(hao,nbires,brl-bmd,csu-cs)!denelcor!lmc
			(303) 337-7900 x261

piet@mcvax.UUCP (Piet Beertema) (12/22/83)

How about xmitter and the like? Does that go back to the good old
steam radio of year 0?
-- 
	Piet Beertema
	CWI (Center for Math. & Comp. Science), Amsterdam
	...{decvax,philabs}!mcvax!piet