Ah, the dreaded X. Whatever the challenge, it always seems to be the letter to avoid. If you have a favourite word in this letter, please add it. Foreign language words are welcome, (with translation) and American spellings are allowed. No abbreviations though.
Xiphoid.
I can thank my years in the Ambulance Service for this word. The Xiphoid is something we all have, as it is a small extension at the base of the sternum, the central bone of the chest. (Also known as the Xiphoid Process). When carrying out manual CPR, it is important to try not to break this arrow-shaped ossified cartilage.
Xenophobia.
This Ancient Greek word denotes a fear of outsiders, foreigners, or strangers. In modern use, it is generally understood to be a dislike of people from other countries. We have all seen a great deal of this going on, in recent years.
Xylene.
This is a colourless chemical used as a solvent I have no idea why I remember this word, but I do. It was probably part of some hazardous chemicals lecture I attended when working for the emergency services.
Short of resorting to a dictionary, this was the best I could do. The only other one I thought of was Xanadu, but that got a lot of use in my music (and film) challenge.
My Petit Larousse Illustré offers even fewer X words than my Langenscheidt’s New College Merriam-Webster English Dictionary! But since I risk repeating English words already given here, I’ll throw out a couple. XÉRÈS is what we call sherry. XANTHIE is a moth. There are quite a few species, but you can look up Agrochola circellaris on Wikipedia to read about one of them. XIMENIA (same as in English, though XIMÉNIE is offered as a French variant) is a tropical plant that supplies edible fruit. One species, Ximenia americana, is commonly known as tallow wood, yellow plum, or sea lemon (citron de mer).
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You did well with X, David. I had to fall back on my limited medical training.
Best wishes, Pete.
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There is no X in Afrikaans. My only contribution is a bit of a made up word “xenomorph”, which is what the aliens from the Alien films are called.
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Thanks, Abbi. That works for me!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Good Morning Pete:
Yes, I know you are not there and that I am terribly late. It seems I can recall only one x word in economics unless you count stock ticker symbols and ISO codes for currency. So I will not break your Xiphoid by pressing too hard and too low but XBA is the code for the European Composite Unit, XBB the code for the European Monetary Unit and there are more, but I shall spare you the more and avoid triggering your Xenophobia by mention them. However, there must be a stock symbol representing a company that produces the denatured alcohol you refer to as Xylene, could it by XBIO? If so they best do it with X-EFFICIENCY (production at the least possible cost) as they have lots of competition.
Warmest regards, Theoretically
PS have a great time at what ever you are away doing.
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I thought X would beat you, but I should have known better!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Went to the internet for this letter, Pete and here are some I found:
“xenodochial” – hospitable; kindly to strangers
“xerophagy” – eating of dry food; fast of dry food in the week preceding Easter
And of course:
“xylophilous” – fond of wood; living in or on wood. Well, aren’t we all?
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Nice dictionary choices, John. I should have done that!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, it’s a cheat for sure, but at least I acknowledged it…didn’t want anyone thinking I was pretending to have those words floating around in my head
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Xylophone. X-Ray. X marks the spot. Straight from a preschool teacher, of course. This one was not so easy.
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True. Unless you are Greek, or medical, X is tricky. Thanks for X marks the spot, reminds me of treasure maps!
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’m glad it brought back childhood memories, Pete. Best to you.
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Xenophobia is a really great word, Pete. I comes up frequently in South Africa unfortunately.
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Thanks, Robbie. Much the same here, to be honest.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Many thanks, Michael. have a great weekend.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thank you. Also best wishes for the sunday. 😉 Michael
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I can give you Xeranthemum and Xanthosoma but even in the floral world x is not used very much.
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Thanks for your botanical selections, Jude.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I teach xylophone classes and apparently that really is the only x word I know! Ha! It is funny, but true!
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I couldn’t even learn to play my toy one! Well done for both.
Best wishes, Pete.
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thank you Pete.
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Drat! Xenophobia and Xylophone would have been my first choices. Hmm. There’s:
Xylography – The art of making engravings on wood. (I only know this because it was something my dad tinkered with it.)
And that’s all I’ve got.
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Well it’s a good one, and new to me.
Thanks, Kim.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Xerox is the word that came to mind for me, too.
I grew up an hour from Rochester, NY, which a lot of folks will associate with Eastman Kodak. But it’s also where “xerography” was invented.
My dad told me that when Kodak made a foray into the copying machine business, people would make a point of asking the Kodak guys to “Make me a xerox of this, won’t ya?” because they’d always get bent out of shape, and say “Do you mean, make me a photocopy??”
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Thanks, Robert. It would seem that the trade name has become an acceptable word and term. Not unlike ‘Hoover’, which we always say here, for vacuuming.
Best wishes, Pete.
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X already! You must have been busy while I’ve been away! I’ll offer xenon – one of the noble gases. Also xanthan gum, which I’ve used occasionally in gluten-free baking.
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Thanks, Ros. I knew Xenon, but I have never baked, with or without gluten.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Xerox is all I can give you! Although there is Xeroderma which, though it sounds similar, is not related to my condition Scleroderma but to any condition that involves dry and rough skin. x
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Thanks for that dermatological offering, Sarah. Despite being a trade name, Xerox is an acceptable word too.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I know ‘cos I checked!
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I’ll add Xavier. It’s not an everyday word, but it is a name that incites much disagreement over how it is pronounced.
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And of course there is Xian in China, near where the terracotta soldiers are.
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I remember Xavier Cugat, the bandleader. We always said ‘X-Zavier’, but I understand ‘Zavier’ is correct. Thanks, Peggy.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Can’t think of any at the moment.
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No problem, Arlene. X is a hard letter.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks, Pete – xylophone.
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Someone had to come up with that old favourite, Julie.
Many thanks.
Best wishes, Pete.
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You got me here, Pete. Outside of X-ray, I don’t think I use any “X” words. Jeez, there goes my 100% on the test!!!
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Never mind, GP. You have done exceptionally well, and X is hard.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Not much at all from Geordieland, though you might hear ‘X’ instead of ‘axe’ for ‘ask’ if you come across a posh Geordie 😉🤣
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A posh Geordie? Now there’s a thing. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wye aye man 😊
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In Greek the letter X (Ξ) is very common at the beginning of words, so most x words in English have a Greek root. Xenos, for example, is stranger or foreigner, and Xiphos is a lance (in modern Greek, too). In Geek the letter is pronounced KS, not Z as in English. I always found it amusing that Brits can say taxi, but Xenia (a girls name) is always Zenia!
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I can imagine it’s frustrating to hear us mispronounce your words, Marina. Many thanks for clearing that up, and for your contributions to ‘X’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Xenophobia is all I could think of, Pete!
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Never mind, Sue. Thanks for all your contributions.
Best wishes, Pete.
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😊
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You have it wrapped up Pete, I was going to suggest xenith, but then spell check and the internet seem to be at odds as to how it is spelt, knowing me I’m thinking of two different words, whichever one is at its peak. If all else fails then I’ll pop it in as a Z choice 🙂
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It does appear that Zenith has become the accepted spelling, though I have seen brand-name goods written as Xenith. Save it for ‘Z’.
Cheers, Pete.
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I’d not heard of xiphoid until now.
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Most people wouldn’t have, unless they had to do CPR, or worked in a medical job.
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It’s hard thinking of words beginning with X I find.
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There are quite a few. Think of a musical instrument!
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That one obviously came to mind. But in comparison with other letters, it’s a short and slim picking.
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Mostly technical and medical stuff, with a lot of Ancient Greek.
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I can imagine. My medical terminology is pretty scarce to say the least.
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