XMAS ERSATZ ......

The elision of Christmas to Xmas has always made me cringe a bit . Believer or no,  it just has a cheapening sound like substituting rayon for silk.  Or a favourite word to describe this would be verbal 'ersatz'.   This time of year it abounds from fake Christmas trees to fake fireplaces. Somebody told me the word has a German root.  I thought perhaps there may have been a Mr. Ersatz or Mrs Ersatz too; they invented the fake pocket!  That is the most irritating show of ersatz:  a beautiful jacket with the promise of two deep useful pockets and the flaps go nowhere!  The moral of the story is:  if you are going to copy something, then it should aspire to be as good as or better in quality.  Don't you think? Or as the the adage goes:  you are what you pretend to be, so pretend well!.  And bring on the New Year with all the good ersatz!