Thursday, February 16, 2006

X

X, in our alphabet being a needless letter has an added invincibility to the attacks of the spelling reformers, and like them, will doubtless last as long as the language. X is the sacred symbol of ten dollars, and in such words as Xmas, Xn, etc., stands for Christ, not, as is popular supposed, because it represents a cross, but because the corresponding letter in the Greek alphabet is the initial of his name -- Xristos. If it represented a cross it would stand for St. Andrew, who "testified" upon one of that shape. In the algebra of psychology x stands for Woman's mind. Words beginning with X are Grecian and will not be defined in this standard English dictionary.

2006 Update: A generation rich in material wealth yet poor in letters.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

In king's names, the tenth, whereas today I am Weirsdo the First (I)!

Indeterminacy said...

X A thing you click to get rid of something. E.g. the first comment.

Anonymous said...

"X" I would be an X list blogger
but Doug, master, founder and sole owner of the two line quip made the "Q" list cool.

Why Doug why?

mireille said...

The rating that dare not speak its name. xoxo. heh.

Sar said...

X is the symbol Fox Mulder would form with masking tape on his apartment window to signal a meeting request with the mysterious character known as X on the X-Files.

Doug - So now you've taken to posting single letters as your entries? Lazy dog!

dddragon said...

X marks the spot for treasure.

And X brings us to Doug!

Tom & Icy said...

We don't know what X is

Doug The Una said...

Weirsdo, of your firstness I have no doubt.

Indie, I'd think about if there were an alligator pond involved.

Pia, someone really needs to explain the letters to me. I'm so terribly confused I could only write one letter this morning.

Mireille, the rating that need not speak its name.

Sar, you never have mornings like that?

Dddragon, don't lose that X.

Icy, you know, x = the unknown.

LeMas. said...

x-hey...I resemble your definition Doug. Though I am lacking in material wealth. And I missed the boat on the whole grunge thing. And I still don't know how to use a computer properly. But I do own horn-rimmed glasses, so I guess that makes me okay.

Jay Noel said...

"X" is also what many illeterate people sign their name as. "X" is also associated with mystery - i.e. Mister X, Professor X, Malcom X, and my favorite:

Racer X of 'Speed Racer'

Karen said...

I know X-actly what you mean!!

Doug The Una said...

Masil, I think you're middle class in letters, anyway.

Phoenix, Racer X was the king and Trixie my first love.

So, we understand each other, Karen.

Jamie Dawn said...

X: dead
In drawings or cartoons, two X's in place of the eyes shows that the person has given up the ghost.

Anonymous said...

the chromosone for intelligence and competency I believe...some people (and most of our countries politicians) have one, other people have two.

Another Example

Cooper said...

The question for me is always what does x equal. If I can answer that I'm good to go.

X: My preference in tic tac toe

Unknown said...

this is an X-rated definition. so, we're going adult now? at fxxxing last!

Anonymous said...

I got gyped!
I gots no wealth,
but hear, have a phew of my extra letters,
I think I have sum to spair.

Omnipotent Poobah said...

X truly is worthless. It doesn't even have a phonetic sound. It has to mooch one off Z.

There's nothing worse than a moocher letter!

Lila said...

X, the axis that is perpendicular to Y? *ew, math*

tlm said...

Yes, the X gets no love in our language. Depending on who you ask, it's either the 3rd or 4th least-used letter in our alphabet. (Only Z, Q, and J are more pathetic.)

And it's dead last when ranked by numbers of words beginning with a particular letter.

sar- I, too, was thinking laziness when I first saw the post. :)

Anonymous said...

yeah... the first thing i thought of was x-rated in neon lights...but that has already been taken by karma. Then I thought TicTacToe...but that has been taken by Alice. So... I am not Xactly sure what to say... Crap! That has been taken by karen.

Xylophone - now why wasn't this word just spelled with a Z? Yeah... X is really good for nothing!

Doug The Una said...

Jamie Dawn, it's funniest on fish, don't you think?

Anonymous, I knew the human genome project was a bad idea. No one listens to me.

Haha, Alice. X stands for the unknown like why that letter is still in our alphabet.

Yeah, Actonbell. I noticed that about Xi too which I still say is not a word.

Karma, you always have permission.

Logo, ur 2 kind.

True, Poobah. The welfare queen of orthography.

Aral, why do I suspect you got As in Calc III?

Well signed, a4g.

TLM, at least I post daily. Is there a word in English other than Xylophone? I'm with Poobah. Slap a Z there and we can close X down.

Doug The Una said...

Funny, Shayna. You slipped that one in while I was writing the same thing, so now you blocked me. XLNT!

Miz BoheMia said...

I shall plant myself late to the party with a giant X, right here. Have nothing to say, NOTHING as it has all been said! Off I got to today's part-ay! Doug, I won't give up! I WILL NOT! I shall fight on, persevere, form my own group, call me Mizzy X...

Minka said...

It sucks being late...I had many great ideas:
a) sucks when you play Scrabble(Actonbell took that one)
b) the better Chromosome(somebody took the DNA-wit already)
c) so I have to go for:
Tryggvi, Antti, Ceasar and Mike

Doug The Una said...

Miz B, you're welcome loquacious or silent. Nice to have you around.

Well, Monika, it's good to have more of your past mapped for us. Thinking back to January, maybe you should do a post ranking the four.

Minka said...

What now who?...January? Hey that was like yesteryear! A post I made in January?

GABRIEL C. ZOLMAN said...

Doug, you know darn well that it is short for Exene.

)+(

ninjapoodles said...

My favorite treatise on the letter 'X' is from the late Mitch Hedberg.

"Xylophone is spelled with an X. It should be a Z. Xylophone ZZZ X, I don't ******ng see it. Next time you spell Xylophone, spell it with a Z. If someone tells you that's wrong, say "no it ain't." If you think that that's wrong then you need to get your head Z-Rayed. It's like X didn't have enough to do so they had to promise it more. "Okay, you won't start a lot of words, but you will have a co-starring role in Tic-Tac-Toe. And you will be equated with hugs and kisses. And you will 'mark the spot.' And you will make writing 'Christmas' easier. And you will incidentally start 'xylophone.' Are you happy now, you ****ing X?"