Why it's ok to use the 'C' word...'Christmas' that is...

Source: http://christmasstockimages.com

Some words are so offensive we just can't bring ourselves to accept their use in common speech can we?  Yes, there are 'swear words' that we may feel are inappropriate in certain situations (although Stephen Fry's fantastic documentary series 'Planet Word' certainly made an excellent case for the function of swearing in our language), but other words are becoming taboo in some civic context particularly as they are seen to expose the organisations using them to criticism on the grounds of favouring one particular (religious) culture over another.

The specific 'C' word I'm talking about here is, of course,

'Christmas'.

Several city councils have, in recent years, changed their use of language at this time of year to studiously avoid using this particular 'C' word in order to be more 'inclusive', replacing it instead with 'Winter Festival' or similar.  As a non-religious linguaphile I find this mildly amusing.  Christmas is, of course, a word with Christian etymological roots (although scratch beneath this and you have Christ/Krishna and the Indo-European linguistic heritage of English to consider), and I appreciate the dilemma faced by councils, but really, the meaning of the word has evolved in common speech just as thousands of others have over time.  This is the great strength of the English language, its ability to adopt and adapt.

If you're a Christian you might mourn the loss of the religious connotation of the word in its use by some today; equally, if you are concerned about consumerism, you might think the word has been exploited by business. That's placing a heavy burden of political, ideological and religious thought on one little word. For me Christmas is just a word which we all understand, a signifier (as Saussure called it), which describes a cultural event that many people in the world participate in.  The meaning we each ascribe to the cultural event itself, our views on it and concerns about it, are a separate set of issues.  We need signifiers to be able to discuss the bigger issues, so let's not take them away...

With that in mind, and on a less serious note, earlier this week I made a video for my first year students with the answers to their Christmas quiz.  This little Christmas message from everyone at Swansea Business School was the by-product.  No religious connotations, just a bit of fun :)