What is "xpto"

The expression "XPTO" is an old abbreviation of the word "Χριστός", written "Christós" ( Christ, in Greek). The letters X ( chi), ρ ( rho), τ ( tau) and ό ( omicron) were selected and capitalized to form the abbreviation. Since the selected letters are identical with some capitals in the latin alphabet, this abbreviation is commonly spelled "xpto", ex-pee-tee-o. The expression XPTO is normally used to describe something with very good qualities (e.g.: I own an XPTO car). This usage is very frequent in European Portuguese.

It's also a usual placeholder name for a variable or unknown item in Portuguese-speaking countries. Something akin to a metasyntactic variable name, like " Foo" in English.

Category:Abbreviations Category:Placeholder names Category:Christian terminology