# Why is Christmas abbreviated Xmas?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 13, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042 "2018-12-13T04:34:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042/21 "2018-12-14T17:59:25Z")

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> [@kanicbird](#):
>
> Funny how Christ as a way of showing up even when one does not want him.

[Jesus is a jerk.](https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/413766-jesus-is-a-jerk)

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042/22 "2018-12-15T04:49:50Z")

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> [@EscAlaMike](#):
>
> Joke’s on you. Xmas is a thoroughly Christian abbreviation, and you haven’t gotten rid of the mass.
> 
> Actually, I think the Protestant cry to “keep Christ in Christmas” is hilariously ironic, since they themselves took the “mass” out of it 500 years ago.

They took out the _word_ “mass”. Only a handful of outliers (Quakers, Salvation Army, and a few others) eliminated the thing itself.

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**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042/23 "2018-12-15T04:52:53Z")

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> [@Yllaria](#):
>
> Mildly related to X-walk and XING, which are pronounced cross-walk and crossing.

Not in the Max Headroom tv series. The character Ped Xing pronounced his name “zing”.

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**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-christmas-abbreviated-xmas/826042/24 "2018-12-17T17:42:58Z")

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> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> Not in the Max Headroom tv series. The character Ped Xing pronounced his name “zing”.

Well, if it’s his name he can pronounce it any way he wants.

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