def x_ian(x, word):
    """
    Given a string x, returns True if all the letters in x are
    contained in word in the same order as they appear in x.

    >>> x_ian('srini', 'histrionic')
    True
    >>> x_ian('john', 'mahjong')
    False
    >>> x_ian('dina', 'dinosaur')
    True
    >>> x_ian('pangus', 'angus')
    False
    
    x: a string
    word: a string
    returns: True if word is x_ian, False otherwise
    """
    if len(x) == 0:
        return True
    elif len(word) == 0:
        return False
    elif x[0] == word[0]:
        return x_ian(x[1:], word[1:])
    else:
        return x_ian(x, word[1:])