Style guides and etiquette
"Xmas" is deprecated by some modern style guides, including those at the ''History
Use in English
Early use of "Xmas" includes Bernard Ward's ''History of St. Edmund's college, Old Hall'' (originally published circa 1755). An earlier version, "X'temmas", dates to 1551. Around 1100 the term was written as in the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. "Xmas" is found in a letter from George Woodward in 1753.Use of "X" for "Christ"
The abbreviation of Christmas as "Xmas" is a source of disagreement among Christians who observe the holiday. The December 1957 ''News and Views'' published by the Church League of America, a conservative organization co-founded in 1937 by George Washington Robnett, attacked the use of Xmas in an article titled "X=The Unknown Quantity". The claims were picked up later by"for us as Christians, this is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. They're happy to say merry Xmas. Let's just take Jesus out. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ."Roland Martin likewise relates the use of "Xmas" to his growing concerns of increasing commercialization and secularization of one of Christianity's highest holy days. Bratcher posits that those who dislike abbreviating the word are unfamiliar with a long history of Christians using X in place of "Christ" for various purposes. The word "
Other uses of "X(t)" for "Chris(t)-"
Other proper names containing the name "Christ" besides those mentioned above are sometimes abbreviated similarly, either as "X" or "Xt", both of which have been used historically, e.g., "Xtopher" or "Xopher" for "Christopher", or "Xtina" or "Xina" for the name "Christina". In the 17th and 18th centuries, "Xene" and "Exene" were common spellings for the given name Christine. The American singerPopular culture
* In the animated TV series Futurama, Christmas is referred to just as "Xmas", in speech and writing.See also
* Christogram *References
External links