Fromx, abbreviatingxenophobia, +word.
x-word (pluralx-words)
- The wordxenophobia.
2011 July 4, Kathleen Chaykowski, “Avoiding theX word — Jo’burg responds to refugees”, inMail & Guardian[1]:The “X word[”] / Although the conference extensively referred to the nation’s need for “social cohesion” among migrants and South Africans, the word “xenophobia” was almost never uttered during the two-day affair.
2014 June 27, Michael Y.P. Ang,The Independent[2]:Before one uses theX-word to describe people with less-liberal views on immigration, one should recall its meaning – an extreme or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries.
2016 June 25, @BlissTabitha,Twitter[3]:Bitter NY Times Throws AroundX-Word (Xenophobia), Threat of Violence to Insult Pro-Brexit
2019 April 7, “Editorial: Xenophobia – Call it by its name”, inCity Press[4]:In the past fortnight, following a fresh outbreak of xenophobic violence in Durban, President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the “violence against foreign nationals in South Africa”, without mentioning thex-word.
2020 December 24, @NoGamesOnNotice,Twitter[5]:I hope they use my classic thread of REAL xenophobia OUTSIDE of the USA, since theX-word is thrown around like bread at pigeons.
euphemism that starts with anx or a similar letter
- (‘x’-word euphemisms)a-word,b-word,c-word,d-word,e-word,f-word,g-word /G-word,h-word,i-word,j-word,k-word,l-word,m-word,n-word,o-word,p-word,q-word /Q-word,r-word,s-word,t-word,u-word,v-word,w-word,x-word,y-word,z-word;related termsC-bomb,f-bomb,f-slur,L-bomb,n-bomb,Q-slur,r-slur
Fromx- as an abbreviation forcross- incrossword.
x-word (pluralx-words)
- Abbreviation ofcrossword.
- Alternative form:xword
2003, “From the Flowery Couch”, inEurinda[6], page325:After Dieter got up from solving his Stern-Xword puzzle―I was hanging over his shoulders ... in order to fill some ... spaces in the crossword puzzle[.]
2005 October 23, Colin Dexter, “How to solve crosswords”, inThe Guardian[7]:So while this week's column may be a bit tedious, it may also lay the basis for a vital part ofx-word preparation (prep).
Fromx, abbreviatingauxiliary, +word.
x-word (pluralx-words)
- (grammar) One of a group of fundamental Englishauxiliary ormodal verb forms.
1969, Jacqueline Griffin, “Remedial Composition at an Open-Door College”, inCollege Composition and Communication, volume20, number 5,→JSTOR, page361:To change a statement into a question that can be answered “yes” or “no,” one must place anX-word (one of twenty-three auxiliaries or modals) at the beginning of the sentence.
1977, Linda Ann Kunz, “X-word Grammar: Offspring of Sector Analysis”, inJournal of Basic Writing, volume 1, number 3,→JSTOR, page68:The only fivex-words that offer any choice of verb form aream,is,are,was andwere, and this very limited choice represents the important difference between active and passive voice, for exampleis eating versusis eaten.
2018, Sue Livingstonet al., “Effect of X-Word Grammar and Traditional Grammar Instruction on Grammatical Accuracy”, inEnglish Language Teaching, volume11, number 3,→DOI, page121:Past timeX-words aredid,had,was,were;[…]
