ABC Wednesday 5: X is for...


... Xmas

In the run up to Christmas last week I'd been pondering where the abbreviation Xmas came from and today's ABC Wednesday is the perfect excuse to find out a little more. According to the entry about Christmas in Wikipedia:

The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass). In Greek, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

My parents and school always suggested using the word Xmas was rather vulgar and such was this air of disapproval dinned into me from an early age, even today I find it rather a difficult word to use!

The picture's a scene from our family Christmas walk in Batley Park on Boxing Day, where we had great fun in the snow, though the poor ducks and geese on the lake were finding it a little difficult to land ;)

Comments

  1. Plant Mad Nige30 December 2009 at 17:52

    I was just the same - always told that 'Xmas' was rather common and lazy usage. Even at the cathedral school I was sent to, the term was forbidden - we were taught its origin, but still forbidden to use it.

    Xmas is preferable to 'Crimbo' anyway, I suggest!

    Our vicar, where we lived previously, insisted on retaining the the third 's' in the word (Christmass) - a reminder that it was Christ's Mass.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan Tomlinson30 December 2009 at 17:53

    Merry Xmas to you, VP! From the Department of Expediancy and Abbreviation. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. our friend Ben30 December 2009 at 19:07

    I, too, was brought up believing that "Xmas," be its usage never so hallowed by time, was a vulgar substitute for "Christmas." The only place I use it is in my checkbook (that's "cheque" to you), since there's not enough room to write out the real word!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Roger Owen Green30 December 2009 at 19:09

    I had gotten the same message re: Xmas; but I think it's legit, as I noted LAST December, HERE.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tumblewords:30 December 2009 at 20:41

    As always, an interesting post here! Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  6. photowannabe30 December 2009 at 22:15

    I have found it difficult to use too. Its a very interesting explaination for the use of X.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rose31 December 2009 at 01:53

    Ha, ha, VP--we had the same idea this round! Hope you are enjoying your holiday!

    Best wishes for a Happy new Year!

    ReplyDelete
  8. TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe31 December 2009 at 10:08

    I wish you a Happy New Year VP!
    XXX/ Tyra

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anna31 December 2009 at 13:49

    Same here so have never used the word. However both your post and Roses might persuade me otherwise :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Monica the Garden Faerie31 December 2009 at 14:57

    Hi VP, Happy new year! I have an unrelated question. Well, first a confession: I love mushy peas. I want to grow the type of peas needed to make mushy peas and did a little Googlin'. The answer seems to be marrowfat peas. Still (here comes the question), I'm not sure if "marrowfat" is a variety or whether the term refers to any kind of pea left on the stalk long enough to dry. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Juliet31 December 2009 at 23:37

    I find it quite an offensive term (though as Nigel says, Crimbo is probably worse), for the reason Rose gives on her post, ie it's taking "Christ" out of "Christmas" - I know its origin is Christian, but I suspect most people who use it don't. I'd rather people wished me a happy winter solstice or even a cool yule, if that reflects their own beliefs, rather than mucking about with mine.

    Because of its modern useage (emblazoned all over the shops from the end of September) I also think of the word Xmas as representing all that's bad about Christmas - all the commercialism, over-spending, over-eating, wasting food, and fighting with people you don't see all year and would rather not see at all - Christmas, on the other hand, to me is about celebrating, thoughtful giving, enjoying special treats, and being with, or staying in touch with, people you actually love.

    It's quite an important issue for me, and I was intending to post about it myself in the run-up to Christmas, but I ran out of time ... maybe next year. Or maybe it would be better if I left it alone - too much potential for me to get really upset if people disagree with me!

    Anyway, sorry to rant on your blog - all good wishes to you for a happy new year, VP!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1 January 2010 at 15:45

    Happy New Year! I've never liked the word Xmas either. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ladyinblue1 January 2010 at 22:24

    Hi, I find the X a bit hard to find...but than I just remember my Christmas-tree (X-mas-tree) or as we say in Sweden Julgran.
    Have a Nice and Happy New Year 2010
    /Ulla

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP4 January 2010 at 12:00

    I'm surprised at how many of us were brought up thinking this was not the proper way to do things!

    OK to rant away Juliet - if I get a card with Xmas written in it I always feel that it was one written in haste rather than with care.

    Susan - tee hee! Hope your mother's well on the road to recovery.

    ReplyDelete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more