henning@acsu.buffalo.edu (Karl wither Henning) (05/30/91)
Daniel DanehyOakes writes: >... *today* and *in*English* (or Merkin, the language we speak here >in Merka), "X" does *not* stand for Christ. "Cmas" might be slightly >better, in that sense, I suppose. Perhaps not, as the Greek letter chi /was/ used by Greek speakers/ writers as shorthand for "christ", at least -- whereas *at no time* and *in*English* :-) have English-language speakers/writers used the letter "c" as shorthand for "christ". Thus, your suggestion -- while interesting perhaps -- seems a little arbitrary. Let me add parenthetically that I generally feel that vehement objection to the way "some people" use whatever language is an imprudent misdirection of energy. Language is only half tool; it is also half organism, and most words did not begin their lives in a dictionary, but in the mouths and hands of people. (Nowadays, of course, the recent and unique omnipresence of mass media has acquired the only half-predictable power to create neologisms almost overnight). Keeping in mind that it is usage and not pronouncement that determines what does or not stand for something else, whenever and in any language ... Today, and in English: ---------------------- 'X' stands for "christ" --> "xmas" 'X' stands for "eks" --> "the letter 'x'" 'X' stands for "ks" --> "thanx" 'X' stands for "cs" --> "T-Rextasy" 'X' stands for "cken" --> "chiX" 'X' stands for "crosse" --> "laX" 'X' stands for "kisses" (as in "hugs and --") --> "p.s./ OOOOOXXXXXOOXX" 'X' stands for "under 17 not admitted" --> "rated 'X'" 'X' stands for "10" --> "MCMLX" (1960) 'X' stands for "times" --> "10 X 2 = 20" 'X' stands for "captures" --> "Q[ueen] X P[awn]" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 'X' is commonly used to mean "unknown variable" (mathematical and otherwise), and I believe 'X' is still accepted legally as the "mark" (signature) of an illiterate adult, in some parts of the U.S. No amount of polemic can obliterate any of the above "values" imputed to the mere symbol "x"; only lapsed usage will do that -- result in that, I should say ... "do" is too active a verb for this sort of social process. For your part, you are at perfect liberty to filter out for yourself any one or more of these values for 'X' -- although in the case of "xmas", such filtration would involve denying a piece of knowledge that you already possess. And frankly (as you must admit from the above chart), were you to assert that you never read 'X' with any phonetic values other than /ks/ ("Texas"), /gz/ ("exert"), or /z/ ("xylophone"), I should feel justified in assuming that you were full of malarkey. >"Xmas," to many of us, carries connotations of pure commerciality; >it became supercommon in modern usage as a result of stores trying >to shorten the big word to fit more stuff into their "!!!XMAS SALE!!!" >advertisements. To which I can only say, Feh, and (though I certainly >*do* exchange gifts and put up a tree) that's not Christmas. That's >Xmas. That is a selective bias which you (and, I suppose, according to your account, others) have acquired/cultivated -- at least partly out of a desire to distinguish a sincere, pious, reverent "christmas" from the capitalist accoutrements thereof. May I respectfully submit that xians in general might benefit more from first observing, and understanding what they observe, than from piously formulating, and stamping subsequent observations into those artificial molds. >Even more to the point, though, the term "Xtian" is used by a subset >of "neopagans" and "wiccans" who definitely intend it to be a slam. >Note that I am *NOT* saying that *ALL* N's and W's who use this term >mean it that way. But the "X" has taken on, for some of us (and >especially for some of us who live in places where neopaganism and >wiccanism have a strong hold), a feeling of bigotry. I am not now, nor have I ever been, an adherent of "neopagan"ianity or "wiccan"ianity. I do not believe that I am bigoted against xians per se. I refuse to accept intolerance (but that is another article ...) An Australian friend of mine does not use the word "napkin" at table, as that word for him has strong associations which in American English are generally ascribed only to the complete phrase "sanitary napkin". For most Americans, "catholic" means "Roman Catholic", and "gay" means "homosexual"; but really, the words merely mean "universal" and "happy", respectively. You can chain your use of language to the prejudicial stereotypes, if you choose; some people go out of their way (in a small way) to reclaim the words from those stereotypes, and call the attention of others to that issue by the occasional choice of an aptly reclaimed word. I do not presume to tell you how you /must/ use or interpret a given word, &c. I find "xmas" [pronounced "christmas"] and "xian" [pronounced -- oh, you know how it's pronounced] serviceable abbreviations (particularly on a newsgroup like this, where such topics seem to arise fairly frequently). I do not intend them as insults -- and I deny that any xian with an open mind /must/ ineluctably receive them as such. I also use B.C.E and C.E. rather than B.C. and A.D., because the latter pair are unnecessarily a] religion-centred, and b] oriented to the occident. I elect to use the chi/X, mostly for two reasons: a] it calls attention to the fact [to my mind, apt] that, howsoever it may have evolved over the centuries, xianity has its roots in the Hellenic world of the first centuries C.E. -- when you've known as many xians as I have, who are well-contented with the delusion that god delivered the King James bible intact and forever immutable, you come to feel that offering a little historical perspective falls under the heading of Public Service :-); and b] it offers xians themselves an enlarged sense of themselves, as comprising a part of the world which the rest of the world observes and evaluates, where it seems that many don't care much, or seldom do, what the rest of the world thinks, as long as they figure they've got the Man Upstairs squared. Xians will contribute more to the world around them, when they come to realize that they are only one part of it, and that being a mere part of it, is enough (i.e., sufficient justification "to be"). Also, I share something of the twin passions of Anthony Burgess -- words and music -- who said "I am obsessed with words". But only because they are a medium of communication. kph -- "The study of crime begins with the knowledge of oneself. All that you despise, all that you loathe, all that you reject, all that you condemn and seek to convert by punishment springs from you." -- Henry Miller