In a message dated 11/30/2005 9:57:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: I don't like "happy holidays" or "xmas" (where did that come from, anyway?) Stephen, "Happy Holidays" speaks for itself. And I believe some have already addressed the "holy days" that has contracted into "holidays" over the centuries. Xmas is a very different kind of contraction. Having had seven years of formal study in classical, koine and byzantine Greek, I use _alot_ of Greek abbreviations. X is the letter "chi" which is the traditional abbreviation for "christos," and comes into English as "christ," usually capitalized for theological reasons. It is one of very few abbreviations left in the English language that were common in the seventeenth and eighteenth century written English. If you've ever encountered "Xian" in an eighteenth century English letter or diary, I can assure they were not speaking of a friend from Asia. I'd go on, but I could bore you to tears... Holly in Virginia ...whose husband helped fold laundry today, and asked me if I realized that I had two identical red sweaters... ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).