X-Mas: a poll

[jwgh]

[Poll #1502258]

Comments

To clarify,

[notr.livejournal.com]

I sometimes write or type it.

Re: To clarify,

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

Same here, and always for brevity and because most people I know accept it as either a derogatory or as "Christ," or in a rare case, both. Of the people I know, only 3, including my parents, are especially into the religious aspects of Christmas, and my parents only mildly so-- they're churchgoers, but no more midnight mass for them.

I'm agnostic and don't subscribe to Christianity, but I don't have a giant beef with religion, which is part of the reason I'm not standing with the atheists. I deeply regret the hurt it has caused some people, but I believe it does a lot of good for so many more. So I feel a twinge of guilt when I write Xmas, and I never write "Xtianity," or however that's spelled.

[oh6.livejournal.com]

Christmas only comes once every 30 seconds.
In dimension X it's almost always X-mas.

-- James Kochalka Superstar, "Merry Christmas from Dimension X"

[paperclippy.livejournal.com]

I usually write xmas instead of Christmas. However, usually because I consider it a secular holiday rather than a religious one and it sounds less religious if you don't include "Christ." I checked that I think X stands for "Christ" but more I think it stands for a cross, which sounds like "criss," which makes the whole thing sound like "criss-mas" which sounds like "Christmas." But either way eventually it still stands for Christ.

[paperclippy.livejournal.com]

That is, because a cross stands for Christ. In case I wasn't clear.

I'm waiting for plorkwort

[notr.livejournal.com]

to explain what she considers it to mean, since I strongly doubt she speaks from ignorance.

Re: I'm waiting for plorkwort

[plorkwort.livejournal.com]

I mean that I had trouble with filling out the poll using lynx, since that's what I use for lj at work.

[kerri9494.livejournal.com]

We were admonished in Sunday school to never ever write/say XMas, because it "Exes the Christ out of Christmas". So instead, I don't say Christmas, either.

[urbeatle.livejournal.com]

I spell it "H-Mas", obviously!

When writing to ordinary people, I spell it out. In tiny notes, I use an "X". I am neither Christian nor anti-Christian, so I don't really care either way.

[cgoldfish.livejournal.com]

you spell it h-mas because it *IS* h-mas.

Tiny He's-Fred-Jim sez..

[sunburn.livejournal.com]

Merry Hmas, everybody! Kibo bless us everyone one!

[ikkyu2.livejournal.com]

I always assumed it was a Greek capital letter 'chi' - the first letter of the word Christ (or Christos) in Greek.

[mskala.livejournal.com]

Likewise.

[mshollie.livejournal.com]

I usually use the abbreviation C'mas, though I do believe that the X in the abbreviation is the Greek letter "chi".

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I'll write it xxxmas sometimes, just because i'm a dick.

[cgoldfish.livejournal.com]

or a porn star.

[jwgh]

What's that called? Synecdoche?

[twillis.livejournal.com]

I always thought the X as short for Christos was common knowledge. Silly me.

Anyway, I celebrate Hogswatch now, so it a moot point.

And I subscribe to the theory that Seasonal Affective Disorder is the Reason for the Season.

Basically, it's a "Gosh, I hope I don't die this horrible winter" type of celebration.

[jwgh]

Based on the results of this poll, you were right!

[twillis.livejournal.com]

Oh, I forgot to wish you a happy holiday: Here's Hoping you Don't Die this Horrible Winter.

[jwgh]

Thanks, that's the best gift of all!

[houseboatonstyx.livejournal.com]

Yes, this would be a scary time of year without all the lights and distraction. And the solstice is what the traditional feasts are celebrating. Duh.

[c-bob.livejournal.com]

I don't write X-mas. I am not sure why exactly. I guess if I am referring to Christmas then I do so directly. If I mean the general solstice holiday season, then I usually use the generic holiday description.

[annarama.livejournal.com]

Remember Futurama? They called it Xmas! (But they didn't know the X stood for 'Christ'. When Fry tried to tell them the etymology, they refused to believe it! Hilariously, too.) I think partially that show is to blame for my using the word, but no one gets the reference.