Αναρωτιώμαστε από που προκύπτει η “συντομογραφία” Xmas για τα Χριστούγεννα. Ε! λοιπόν η ελληνική έκδοση της wikipedia αναφέρει ότι η συντομογραφία της λέξης Christmas που αποτελείται από το X, το πρώτο γράμμα της ελληνικής λέξης Χριστός και τα τρία τελευταία γράμματα της λέξης Christmas.
Η αγγλική λέει όμως κάτι άλλο:
Xmas (also X-mas) is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but Xmas, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The ‘X’ comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christós (Greek: Χριστός, translit. Khristós, lit. “anointed, covered in oil”), which became Christ in English. The suffix -mas is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass.
There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secularizing tendency to de-emphasize the religious tradition of Christmas, by taking the ‘Christ’ out of “Christmas”. Nevertheless, the term’s usage dates back to the 16th century, and corresponds to Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Church of England, and Episcopalian liturgical use of various forms of chi-rho monogram. In English, “X” was first used as a scribal abbreviation for “Christ” in 1100; “X’temmas” is attested in 1551, and “Xmas” in 1721.
