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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!floyd!clyde!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!Pucc-H:aeq
From: aeq@pucc-h (Sargent)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: The "X" in Xmas
Message-ID: <407@pucc-h>
Date: Sat, 17-Dec-83 09:32:36 EST
Article-I.D.: pucc-h.407
Posted: Sat Dec 17 09:32:36 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 21-Dec-83 01:18:18 EST
References: <318@abnjh.UUCP>
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Lines: 11

I believe the "X" was used because it looks like the Greek letter Chi, which
is the first letter of Xpistos (that second letter is rho) [*].  And Christmas
is undoubtedly short for "Christ's mass".  (There's a less famous "contracted"
holiday name, Michaelmas, also.  I don't know a thing about the holiday except
the name, so don't ask.)

[*] Looks like we need some means of sending Greek characters over the net and
to our terminals.  How about someone devising a Greek American Standard Code
for Information Interchange (GASCII)?  :-)

-- Jeff Sargent/...pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq