Although I don’t always do it, I don’t mind saying “XMAS”. Here’s why. The X in XMAS is not an English “X” which we would normally use to signify that something is missing or to cross something out that is offensive.

Instead, the X is actually the Greek letter “Chi” which is also the first letter of the word “Christ” in Greek (Χριστός) or Christu. This is also seen, and best illustrated, in the Christian “fish symbol” IXOYE (also known as “Ichthys” which is Greek for fish).  The letters in the fish are not English letters, but Greek.

 – This is the letter “Iota”. This is the first letter of Jesus’ name in Greek (Ἰησοῦς, hay-su)

Χ – This is the letter “Chi”.  This is the first letter of the word Christ in Greek (Χριστός-Christu).  Hence, Xmas.

Θ – This is the letter “Theta”.  This is the first letter of the word God in Greek (θεός, Theos).  This is where we get the word theology from.

Ύ – This is the letter “Upsilon”.  This is the first letter of the word Son (Υἱός, huios)

Σ – This is the letter “Sigma”.  This is the first letter of the word savior (Σωτήρ-soter)

Although I prefer to use the term Christmas, it does make me smile when I see the term XMAS because I know the truth of the symbol.