Friday 24 December 2010

Merry Xmas Everybody

On Xmas Eves past I've posted a letter to Santa, but my hopes for an end to 'hysterical nannying' are never fulfilled, sadly.

Therefore, this Xmas I shall wish for something far more likely to be granted, like these guys did in their criminally underplayed seasonal offering.


Yes, there really is more chance of taking a 23-eyed alien as a pet than our maternal state leaving us to go about our lives unfettered. We can't, it would appear, change the cards we are dealt (without blowing things up, of course), we can merely play the hand in such a way as to mitigate the worst excesses our hideous legislators seek to force upon us ... and boy have we seen some of those in 2010! Let's hope we can be more optimistic come Xmas 2011.

By the way, if you thought my using Xmas throughout this post was lazy or irreverent, it isn't. In fact, in doing so I've added a traditional flavour to the piece, as the Churchmouse - a good friend of this blog and a perfect person to link to at this time of year - explains fully here.

The ‘X’ comes from the Greek ‘chi-rho’ symbol, illustrated at left. These are the first two letters of ‘Christ’ in Greek. This was the way ‘Christ’ was written in English until the advent of the printing press, which couldn’t handle the symbol, for obvious reasons. So, printers used an ‘X’ for ‘Christ’. Xmas is pronounced ‘Christmas’.

So, it isn’t disrespectful at all to write ‘Xmas’ in a seasonal greeting. In fact, it’s the oldest way.
And there were Slade, probably thinking they were being a bit edgy back in 1973, eh?

So Merry Xmas to everyone who has popped into this grumpy grotto during the year (apart from ASH nosey-bonks, natch). Whether you've been naughty or nice, may you and yours enjoy a fantastic festive period.

Let the over-indulgence commence!


12 comments:

Witterings from Witney said...

A very Happy Christmas and New Year to you DP - and the clan Puddlecote!

marksany said...

best wishes to you and yours, Dick. Merry Xmas.

wassname said...

A happy Xmas to you and yours DP and hope you can keep up the good work in 2011, it's much appreciated.

Captain Ranty said...

Merry Xmas to all at Puddlecote Mansions.

I wish you everything you wish for yourselves.

CR.

banned said...

I enjoyed re-reading your letter to Santa though sadly nothing has changed in two years.
Merry Xmas to you and yours Dick.

subrosa said...

Merry Christmas to the P household. I do hope Santa is kind to you.

Anonymous said...

Merry Xmas. Thanks for your hard work.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas, everyone. I fully intend to stick two fingers up to The Puritans by bingeing throughout today.

Thanks for stonking posts throughout the year, DP.

Jay

Autonomous Mind said...

Just to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and peaceful New Year.

Anonymous said...

Bit late for "Merry Xmas".
Have a Great Boxing Day & a Happy New Year.

Cracker Joke: What does a Duddlecote wear?*
(Answers on the back of a £10 note)

Don't know how Mrs P stands you - she must be a wonderful lady!!

Alan B

* I've had a great day - how could you tell??

Dick Puddlecote said...

Thanks very much for all the messages, I'm quite touched. :)

Apart from you, Anon @ 18:42.

"Don't know how Mrs P stands you - she must be a wonderful lady!!"

She reads here, you know. She'll be asking to cook Christmas dinner next year now. Oh, hold on ... ;)

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Dick, for mentioning my 'Xmas' post!

It was commonplace to just abbreviate in those days -- nothing offensive meant.

I hope that you and Mrs P had a wonderful day and wish you all the very best for a happy New Year!

Looking forward to more exchanges in 2011!

Kindest regards
Churchmouse