--- Will Linden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 08:44 PM 11/28/05 -0800, you wrote:
> > No, Mazel Tov is not "religious", but it is a
> >Jewish phrase. And unlike Xtianity, Judaism is not
>
> I keep trying to start a counter-meme on this.....
> but when someone uses
> this code-spelling in a post, there is no way for
> the readers to tell
> whether the poster is adopting the "it's only an
> abbreviation, so how can
> you be so dumb as to resent it?" rationale, or the
> "It should be obvious
> that when I write about the awfulness of 'Xtians' I
> am referring to a
> particular nefarious subset of Christians, so how
> can you be so dumb as to
> resent it?" one. This is not communicating, it is
> PREVENTING communication.
>
-------------
Huh?? Whatever are you talking about?? - I didn't
say anything whatever about any "awfulness" of Xtians,
have not insulted anyone, and I fail to see where
using a common abbreviation is "preventing
communication"!
Apparently you are unfamiliar with the usage and
origins of the abbreviation "Xtian" for "Christian".
"Christ" is actually short for the Greek word which
would be transliterated "Christos". The word means
the same thing as the Hebrew word "Moshiach" --
namely, "Messiah", or "annointed one". Greek does not
use the English (Roman) alphabet (neither does Hebrew,
but that is not germane). In the Greek alphabet, the
first letter of "Christos" is the letter "chi", which
in its capital form looks like the English letter "X".
Therefore, for many centuries, "X" has been used as
an abbreviation for "Christ". I believe the "X" is
also sometimes superimposed on the letter "rho", which
looks like a "P", and would be the second letter in
"Christos". This abbreviation is considered devoutly
respectful, not an insult by any means, and was used
by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries!
I suppose one could say that the "t" in "Xtian"
is redundant, since "Christ" already has a "t", but
actually I have seen both abbreviations -- "Xtian" and
"Xian" -- and I prefer the one with the "t"
stylistically. I have no clue what the writers in
this "Earth Religion News" are talking about; it must
be something confined to their circles. For the rest
of the languages-using-Roman-alphabet world, the two
abbreviations are identical in meaning and usage. Of
course there is the similarly respectful abbreviation
"Xmas" for "Christmas". Any "resentments" one has
about these abbreviations are borne out of a lack of
knowledge.
Hope this straightens out this issue!
Linguistics is a fascinating field of study.
~Rita
>
> I even read a diatribe in EARTH RELIGION NEWS
> which included the
> assertion that "we need" a distinction between
> "Xtians" and "Xians".... but
> did not bother to explain which was supposed to be
> what, so he must have
> considered it obvious to all thinking beings.
>
> Perhaps some Democrat, some time, somewhere
> referred to "the Democrat
> party". That is not why Republicans insist on using
> it.
>
>
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