Christmas Or X-mas?, It seems retailers can't decide

[Natalia]

It seems everyone gets exposed to the bombardment of holiday advertisements and sales each year and I have noticed that some stores who had shy'd away from "Christmas" and used P.C. alternates like "holiday break" or "X-Mas" have now gone back to calling it "Christmas". This makes me wonder if large retailers have done research and decided more people like the classic or if CEO's and marketing directors just don't really care about the individuals who might be offended about it. I personally don't mind one way or the other but just found it interesting how it seems to be flip flopping over the last couple years.

So what do most prefer? (Christmas, X-mas, Happy Holidays)

[TheCarolinaScotsman]

Actually, the use of the letter "X" to stand for Christ is religiously correct also. It has been used as such since antiquity. There are a couple of reasons attributed to the origin of this practice. First and most important "X" is the abbreviation for Χριστος which is Greek for Christ. Sometimes the abbreviation appears as "XP". So "X" has been used as shorthand for Christ since the first century. In fact it was quite common in order to disguise the real meaning of written words from the Roman rulers who, at that time, persecuted Christians.

Secondly, the letter"X" resembles a cross. Christ was crucified on a cross, so the "X" is to remind us of this. This explanation is of more recent origin.

[marti64]

Everything is getting so commercial now......can anyone remember WHY WE CELEBRATE Christmas in the first place??

[oldraven]

I prefer Christmas, because that's what it's about for me. I don't celebrate the birth of baby X.

[Robert Phoenix]

Believe or not I believe the whole Merry Christmas vs Happy Holidays was started (or perhaps not really started by but I should say overblown) by Rush Limbaugh during the Bush-Clinton elections.

[Perkeo]

I don't really care what you call it as long as you keep the real meaning in your heart.

Here is the story that I found about the abbreviation of x-mas it goes along with what TheCarolinaScotsman typed.

The Greek letter X is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos. The word X-mas means 'Christ's Mass.' It was commonly used in Europe by the 16th century. It was not an attempt to take Christ out of Christmas. ((From The Book of Answers. By Barbara Berliner.))