About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

X is for XMAS


A repeat post from December 22, 2012:
 
We who post at ABC Wednesday are lovers of the alphabet, and we are sometimes fascinated by the flexibility of the letter X.  It can be used to represent the sacred, the profane (X-rated), and the unknown (X-ray).

How many of you have ever wondered why "XMAS" is used as a short form for the word ''CHRISTMAS"?  How many of you really know the reason.  Have you ever heard the saying "Jesus is the reason for the season"?

The history of the word "Xmas" is actually quite respectable and predates by centuries its use in gaudy advertisements.   X is the Greek letter "chi", the first letter in the word Χριστός.  And here's the kicker - Χριστός means "Christ."  Using the letter X to represent Christ, known as a "christogram," has been an accepted representation of Christ for hundreds of years. 

So, in order to fulfill my promise of a short post this week, may I wish you all MERRY XMAS!  The following is not a slideshow, just a Xmas card to you all....but do turn up your sound if you enjoy the song "O Holy Night." 
Click to play this Smilebox greeting

15 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Thanks for the reminder: Xmas is NOT a dis!
And thanks to Leslie for Xcellent work!

Carver said...

Merry Xmas to you and yours!

Powell River Books said...

Merry Christmas to you. Have a nice holiday with some well deserved peace and happiness. - Margy

photowannabe said...

Thank you for the wishes.
I wish the same for you and Lorne.
Praying for a Happy and Prosperous New Year for both of you.

Rajesh said...

Merry Christmas!

Hildred said...

Merry Christmas - hope this new year is kinder to you than the last one!!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Merry Xmas, Leslie! x

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

So I can use the word "Xmas" ..
But still prefer Merry Christmas , hope you and Lorne have a wonderful day and an even better New Year. x

Louisette said...

Lovely post and collage, greeting from Belgium, Wishing you all a very Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year

Leovi said...

Wonderful, exquisite!
Searching for beauty and find hope
  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014! Hugs from Spain. Leovi.

Gerald (SK14) said...

Merry Xmas, Leslie! x

Joy said...

Nice to be reminded of its Greek origin. Wishing you and your family a happy Christmas time.

Gattina said...

Apparently there are also people who believe that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

Suzy said...

Loved your card and O Holy Night is one of my favourite carols. Hope you had a lovely Christmas and wish you a wonderful 2014

Liz Hinds said...

I hate the word Xmas because it's so ugly and even the fact that it is a legitimate name doesn't make me like it more!

I do hope you had a great Christmas and that you and Lorne were both well enough to enjoy at least some of it!