Lol thursday. What's the dan though?

Chanukah versus Hanukkah

There are many different spellings for the Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights; the name of the celebration is translated from Hebrew and there are multiple credible ways to make the translation. Some acceptable spellings include Hanukkah, Chanukah, Hanukah, and Hannukah.

A word like this is a great example of why organizations need a style guide. The best way to deal with the variations is to pick a spelling and use it consistently.

"Christmas" Versus "Xmas"

Retailers have long been accused of secularizing Christmas by using "Xmas" in signs and advertisements; therefore, I suspect many of you will be surprised to learn that "Xmas" has a religious origin.

In Greek, the letter "chi" is written as an X, and chi is the first letter of the Greek word for "Christ." Greeks sometimes abbreviated "Christ" as "X." For example, they abbreviated "Christ savior" as "XP." ("P" is the symbol for the Greek letter "rho," which is the first letter of the word "savior" in Greek.) The Oxford English Dictionary shows the first known English use of "Xmas" in 1551.

As for appropriateness, "Xmas" may have a religious origin and fit better on signs, but many people -- both those who use "Xmas" and those who complain about its use -- are unaware of the religious origin. If you choose you use "Xmas," you should know that some people will be infuriated.

Gifting
Many have told me they find the verb "gifting" annoying and wonder why people can't use the perfectly good word "giving."

I confess that I was surprised to learn from the Oxford English Dictionary that "gift" has been used as a verb for 400 years. Nevertheless, it had fallen out of common use until recently when it seems to have experienced a revival. Although I can't tell you it's wrong to say "I'm gifting her earrings this year," I still advise against it on the grounds that many people believe it's wrong.

"winter solstice holidays" is not a holiday. It's a term that encompasses all of them...