Why Call it Xmas?

Occasionally, I've heard people complain about using the abbreviation "xmas." I used to be one of them. Fortunately I got an attitude adjustment because of some new (to me) information. From the American Heritage dictionary:

Xmas has been used for hundreds of years in religious writing, where the X represents a Greek chi, the first letter of , “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.... Many therefore frown upon the term Xmas because it seems to them a commercial convenience that omits Christ from Christmas.

Bruce Satterfield was the person who first introduced me to this information. On his web site he has a paper of symbols of Christ we can find in Christmas. He is appropriating symbols that didn't originally point to Christ but which can still be useful reminders if we want them to be.