Well, I'm hoping to give you all a little Christmas countdown, with a holiday-related post every day until Christmas. We'll see! (I have no illusions about my own powers of concentration, lol!)
Day 1
Why is Christmas sometimes spelled Xmas?*
... especially when combined with the word "sale"?
According to the book Did You Ever Wonder... by Jeff Rovin, the word for Christ in Greek is Xristos. The use of the shortened form "Xmas" became popular in Europe in the 1500's. The word "Xmas" is common in advertising most likely because "Xmas" and "Sale" have the same number of letters, and "Xmas" is significantly shorter than "Christmas".
Who knew? I actually have relatives who will not write or use the word Xmas because they feel that it dishonors Christ. Just goes to show that none of us are as smart as we think we are, lol!
* For more great fun Christmas facts like this, scoot on over to How Stuff Works!
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