In northern England it was also known as Kesmas , Cursmas , and Cursmis . Originally Cristes m sse in Old English, it means simply the mass, or festival, of Christ . This festival was marked by reversing many social customs - slaves would be served by their masters and men would wear women's clothes. Some of this role reversal has survived to the present day. In northern Europe, a festival was celebrated at this time of the year long before the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity and this festival was called yule , though the origin of this word is obscure.
Some people object to the use of Xmas as a hideous neologism.
This abbreviation is hardly an innovation as its first recorded use was in 1551 and the X in Xmas is a very old abbreviation for Christ. Ordinary folk, who had not the time to practice nor the wit to remember such devices, would simply draw a cross, the symbol of Christ, on the paper and then kiss it to show their sincerity. The etymology of carol is uncertain. While there is general agreement that it comes from the Old French carole , no one really knows where it came from before that. It may come as a surprise to many of our readers to discover that a carol was not originally a song but a dance.