73. Why These Holiday Words Are Spelled the Way They Are: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa

Holiday Word Study: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa

In this cozy, end-of-year episode, we’re slowing things down for a short and joyful holiday word study investigation. Instead of a full instructional deep dive, this episode invites you to get curious about three words we hear everywhere this time of year:

1. Christmas
2. Hanukkah
3. Kwanzaa

Together, we explore where these words come from, what their spellings reveal, and how English carries the fingerprints of other languages inside it.

Along the way, you’ll hear about:

1. Why <ch> says /k/ in Christmas (and why that’s not an exception)
2. Why Hanukkah has multiple accepted spellings
3. How Kwanzaa was intentionally named and spelled with meaning in mind
4. What holiday words teach us about word origin, orthography, and meaning

This episode is a reminder that English spelling isn’t random and that it always makes more sense when we look beyond the surface.

For more word study nuggets, check out Logos Live: mine & Sarah Paul's monthly coaching calls through Logos Literacy Academy where we go on even more deep dives! (If you enroll in any one of our courses, you get 2 years of free access to Logos Live as a bonus!)

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