Real Father Xmas

Welcome to our Fun Stuff!

Why Xmas?

Q. Isn’t it rude to say ‘X’mas rather than ‘Christ’mas?

A. Actually, no! I think that the X is like a kiss from Jesus himself.

And now for the technical bit!

The word “Christmas” comes from the Old English term “Cristes maesse” or “Christ’s mass” which has been written as one word since the 14th century.

The Christ part comes from Greek, the language the New Testament was written in*. In that language the word for Christ begins with the letter chi that looks like our english X:

Χριστός

The word “Xmas,” dates back to about 1100 AD written as “Xpes maesse.” This was contracted into the word “Xmas” around the middle of the 18th century.

So, Xmas has a long history and is in no way disrespectful of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh and one more thing... it does make the web address a bit shorter!

*To be exact the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, a dialect that was very common in the Middle East at the time of Christ’s ministry.