Friday’s opinion page in the Newark (Ohio) Advocate contained a letter from a person worried that using the term Xmas in writing and speech was taking Christ out of Christmas.

Even if this was the intent of such people, this method foils their intent. A quick check of any dictionary web site using the American Heritage Dictionary gives us this usage note:

Xmas has been used for hundreds of years in religious writing, where the X represents a Greek chi, the first letter of Χριστος, “Christ.” In this use it is parallel to other forms like Xtian, “Christian.” But people unaware of the Greek origin of this X often mistakenly interpret Xmas as an informal shortening pronounced ĕks’məs. Many therefore frown upon the term Xmas because it seems to them a commercial convenience that omits Christ from Christmas.

If your browser doesn’t render Greek and dictionary characters, you can find the note here.

If someone sees a “Merry Xmas”, they should consider the use in context of everything else the user has done. Perhaps if someone has indeed used the term as an attempt at sanitation, one can spread the word of their folly or just enjoy the knowledge for oneself.