Meeko
December 7, 2005, 4:42am
1
Its Xmas time again. And that brings up an interesting question;
Why is X a symbol for the word criss ? What exactly does criss mean ?
And to confuse things further… How did criss-cross originate?
Definitions of xmas on the Web:
* abbreviation or informal term for Christmas
www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/festivals-christmas.htm
* One of the busiest periods of the year for global travel. Top
www.travellinksdirectory.com/glossary.htm
*** Abbreviation for Christmas, replacing "Christ" with the first letter in the Greek for Christ, chi ("X").**
www.religionfacts.com/christianity/glossary.htm
* Christmas is one of the best time of the year to sell products from affiliate stores. Top
www.global-online-internet-business-opportunities.com/glossary.htm
* Work does not stop on a farm. Animals need to be fed and the cows milked even on Christmas day.
www.lackhamfarm.co.uk/allterms.asp
* Christmas: a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Christ; a quarter day in England, Wales, and Ireland
http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
*** Xmas is an abbreviation for Christmas. It is derived from the word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, transliterated as Christos, which is Greek for Christ. Greek is the language in which the whole New Testament was written.**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas
(Emphasis mine.)
Source: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=define%3Axmas&btnG=Search
As for “criss-cross,” “Criss” is a corruption of “Christ.”
“Hornbooks” were early reading primers. They looked something like this.
For reasons that are unclear (apart from simple piety) the first line begins with a representation of Christ’s cross, and was called the “Christ’s cross line.” Over time, this mark came to be called simply the “criss cross.”
Incidentally, this reminds me of something.
If the X in Xmas is supposed to be a capital chi, as in ??? or TeX, then shouldn’t it be pronounced “khmas”?
Mathochist:
Incidentally, this reminds me of something.
If the X in Xmas is supposed to be a capital chi, as in ??? or TeX, then shouldn’t it be pronounced “khmas”?
How do you pronounce the “lb” in this sentence: “The book weighed 1lb.”?
X (chi) is an abbreviation for “Christ”.
gigi
December 8, 2005, 9:37pm
6
“lib”, of course. Doesn’t everyone?
Exactly. I cannot make myself see that as ‘pound’, even though I know that’s what it means.
