Bonjour from Campagne Maison
X marks the spot
Dear Ms. Matlock,
I've always thought that the alphabet letter X carried a mysterious air about it and after much contemplation over what to write about X this week, here are a few things that I have to report:
X used by the Romans denotes the numeral 10
X used in arithmetic multiplies or increases another number
X used in legal documents identifies a signature of a person who cannot write their name
X used by movie makers rates violence and subject matter for their audience
X used by mathematicians signifies an unknown quantity
X used in the garment industry declares a size
X used by proof readers deletes an entry
X used on a map marks a location
X used by lovers as a symbol to represent hugs
X used in the chromosomes of our reproductive system determines sex as female
X used in conversation nullifies a position from the present to the past
X is a pretty significant letter!
My pet peeve about the letter X is when it is substituted for Christ, when writing Christmas----that is just taking the letter to the Xtreme!
I am participating in Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday this week. Grab her button on my sidebar and head on over to class. It will be interesting to see what other students will be writing about the letter X today.
Thanks for stopping by the farmhouse for a visit. We love having company.
Au revoir,
31 comments:
Great post and I absolutely agree with you about the X used as a substitute of Christ in Christmas. That really makes my blood boil!
X does indeed mark the spot. So much so that I used it at the 1st line of my X post as well.
This was an Xcellent treatise on X. And I am with you about the whole Xmas thing as well...
Have a great day!
X has many uses some of which I did not ponder while thinking of my X's...this was very cool.
Good eXamples of X! Happy X day to you!
If you look in Webster's, X has the fewest entries of any letter. But, it is very significant in our daily lives. Thanks for reminding us how important X is. TL
great informative post :D
What a fantastic stop on our little journey through Alphabe-Thursday's letter "X".
You are so clever to think of this neat list. And I agree with you on the Christmas. It never crossed my mind as part of the "X" though!
I always love stopping here. I smile at your header, read your words, smile some more...
And think how lucky we all are that you link up each week!
Thanks for making this such an Xceptional meme!
A+
Great post!
I share your X-asperation over X being used as a substitute for "Christ" in Christmas.
=)
I love all the meanings of one simple letter. Great post.
Dear Jacque,
You have written an excellent list of the uses of the letter X, which is a very hard letter to do anything with!
And I agree whole-heartedly with you that X should not replace 'Christ'! I always write 'Christmas'! So far, you are first one to have mentioned this.
Well done!
Best wishes,
Anna
Anna's X-words
Great X post!
It's always bothered me too when the X is used in the word Christmas. Very creative post.
Loved your X post :) .
You have so much great information and you gave me lots to think about. X is important to us in many different ways.
Jacque, you are terrific! I love the way you pointed out all the uses of X in our daily lives. Amazing to think of this symbol as being so significant. I totally agree about X used for Christmas. I've never liked that!
Happy 4th of July at Campagne Maison! ~ Sarah
What a great list! What a wonderful idea for the letter X. I too hate the habit of using X in Christmas. I do understand the origin, as the Greek word that translates to Christ begins with an X. But anymore, I think people just use it out of laziness. I doubt the majority of people know the Greek alphabet :) Kat
excellent x post.
delightful post ... and i am so with you on the X for Christmas ... it just seem right
Thank you so much "Anonymous" for all your wonderful comments. I deleted the duplicated entries-- Blog is a little "temperatmental" sometimes!
You have been a great commentor! Maybe some day you will start a blog and we can read all your wonderful entries. Thanks so much for your weekly reading. I appreciate you and everyone else who is interested in what little bit of my daily life that I share.
I do hope you and your family have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!
Keep reading...
I too was in the X class...
Please drop in when you can.
My X-Post
~Excursion of Xeranthemum~
A Diva's Hammer Prose
In my lessons of history we were taught that the The labarum, a conglomeration of two Greek letters resembled the cross or the x. It is a symbol often used today to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches. For this use, many Christians were able to hide the celebration of their faith. Sad.
However, I do believe that historical application has long since past and has been, regrettably, shortened, and commercialized. And most remorsefully de-faithed!
"X" as a symbol...very nicely done Jacque...as you, I am not a big fan of "Xing" Christmas...Peace and blessings
X seems to get the short end of the stick on alot of things but it still carries alot of weight just with it presence...Nice post ..bkm
I too don't like X in Christmas, I know the origin but most don't and so effectively it takes Christ out of Christmas.
EXcellent post!
Great post on the multiple and really interesting uses of X. You know I never liked X in the place of Christ for Christmas either. I looked it up today and found this at Wikipedia:
"X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as "Christ".... The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing.
I think while it may have been symbolic or even special to the ancients, we've lost that today; and it merely becomes what you said... a way of leaving Christ out of a holiday which originates and finds it's meaning in him.
Oh, I see others already mentioned this as well. Great post.
Wow, this was really great. I couldn't hardly come up with anything and you came up with a whole bunch of x words. Great job.
Such a good X post, I have always disliked the Xmas greeting, it really annoys me!
Maggie
Hello and DITTO Jacque. I cringe and go red when I see "X" used in Christmas. From the looks of your comment list, it appears a few of your commentors had to be "X"-communicated. Some people just don't know how to behave. Wishing you a wonderful Fourth weekend. I have really enjoy your alphabet posts. I've been toying with the idea to do one but on antique and vintage items. What do you think? Too much or good fun?
Bonjour from Japan !
What a fun post. X is indeed a very versatile letter, but I agree with you, I don't like it when people use it for X-mas either!
Hope you had a nice July 4th celebration.
Doris :-)
Xcellent post my friend. Hope you had an xtremely awesome 4th of July :-)
XOXO,
♥Ana
Hi Jacque,
I hope you receive this as blogger is a bit crazy right now. Your post was spot on girl. i couldn't agree more with the X used in Christmas.
Big hugs,
Barb
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