# Error on front page **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 4, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479 "2005-11-04T14:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/1 "2005-11-04T14:47:31Z")
Xians is misspelled as Xtians. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/2 "2005-11-04T15:05:55Z")
Supposing this to be in the right forum, the OP seems mistaken. I can’t see the term “xians” in the [threadspotted thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341902). But the term “xtians” does appear. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/3 "2005-11-04T16:21:35Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > … But the term “xtians” does appear. Er, that’s his point. Whether it is an error is another matter entirely. My feelings - a plague on both their houses. (I have no love for the abbreviation, however it be spelt - or spelled). ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/4 "2005-11-04T17:01:50Z")
The X subs for Christ, doesn’t it? Therefore "Christ"ian should be "X"ian. Otherwise, it says Christtian. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/5 "2005-11-04T17:03:37Z")
Personally, I feel it’s stupid no matter which way you spell it. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/6 "2005-11-04T17:48:32Z")
Both spellings seem to be common. I personally prefer the “Xtian” spelling, because when I see the “Xian” spelling I automatically parse it as the Chinese word and then get all confused. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/7 "2005-11-04T17:56:45Z")
Both sound to me like UFO cults. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/8 "2005-11-04T17:58:01Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > Both sound to me like UFO cults. I think both are? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/9 "2005-11-04T18:18:09Z")
Xtians are fans of the band X, and the television series The X Files. Confusing them with Xians brings on enormous theological confusion. Chinese Xians probably are something altogether different. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/10 "2005-11-05T02:04:17Z")
To remove any confusion, let’s adopt a new spelling, in honour of **Lib** : [post=6760826]Xinanes[/post]. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/11 "2005-11-05T02:36:14Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > The X subs for Christ, doesn’t it? Therefore "Christ"ian should be "X"ian. Otherwise, it says Christtian. Those Christtians chap my hide also. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/12 "2005-11-05T04:51:25Z")
[dictionary.com: xian](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=xian) 3 entries found for xian. [ol][li]Xi’·an also Hsi·an or Si·an[/li]A city of central China southwest of Beijing. The capital (221-206 B.C.) of the Qin dynasty, it is a major commercial center and the capital of Shaanxi province. Population: 2,872,539. Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. [li]xian[/li]n : a city of central China; capital of ancient Chinese empire 221-206 BC Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University [li]xian[/li]XIAN: in Acronym Finder Acronym Finder: What does XIAN stand for? Christian[/ol] [dictionary.com: xtian](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=xtian) 1 entry found for xtian. [ol][li]xtian[/li]XTIAN: in Acronym Finder Acronym Finder: What does XTIAN stand for? Christian[/ol] **Advantage** : xtian, less ambiguous ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/13 "2005-11-05T14:08:35Z")
I’ve contacted the Acronym Finder and informed them of their error. Obviously, “Xtian” stands for “Christtian”. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/14 "2005-11-05T14:30:46Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I’ve contacted the Acronym Finder and informed them of their error. Obviously, “Xtian” stands for “Christtian”. I think it stands for Crosstian. Or Cruztian. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/15 "2005-11-05T15:04:36Z")
The Acronym Finder allows people who encounter a term they don’t recognise to find out what the person using it meant by it. That someone thinks that term was ill-used is otiose - regardless of whether the person of that view was informed by great expertise or aliens-run-Denver-airport nutbaggery. The thread selected for threadspotting used some term. The link for threadspotting accurately reflected the thread’s use of that term. That **Liberal** doesn’t like the term doesn’t mean there’s an error on the front page. So it’s other forum stuff, then. Posting in the original thread would probably be taken as a risible hijack, so… oh. Pit, then. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/16 "2005-11-05T18:31:12Z")
I’m glad I didn’t bring up something more critical, like an unclosed tag or something. There might have been vein popping. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/17 "2005-11-05T20:08:10Z")
My first name IRL is Christian. I had sunday school back when I was twelve or so. We had notebooks and when I got mine back, the teacher had written “Xian” on it. I was a bit confused for a while 😃 . Got it eventually though. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/18 "2005-11-05T21:35:59Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I’m glad I didn’t bring up something more critical, like an unclosed tag or something. There might have been vein popping. You asserted there was an “error.” Your assertion has been challenged. I’m not sure why you find that surprising. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/19 "2005-11-05T22:20:24Z")
Our society is really going to heck in a handbasket. We need to put the X back in Xmas. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479/20 "2005-11-05T23:03:21Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > My first name IRL is Christian. I had sunday school back when I was twelve or so. We had notebooks and when I got mine back, the teacher had written “Xian” on it. I was a bit confused for a while 😃 . Got it eventually though. > > /hijack “He changed his name from ‘I believe in something, but I don’t really go to church…’” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/error-on-front-page/329479.md?page=2)