Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
Many of us may write XOXO on a card today, meaning hugs and kisses. But why do we do that?
First off, X means kisses, and O means hugs, right?. I think it would make more sense the other way since the X looks like crossed arms (or a hug), and the O could be an open mouth (or a kiss.) So why does X mean kiss and O mean hug?
The X has a more traceable past. People who can’t write often sign their name with an X. The X originated in the middle ages when people signed with a cross. They “signed in Christ,” and, therefore, it was trustworthy.
Over time people would kiss their signature, and it was called “kissing the Christ,” and thus a sworn oath. By the seventeenth century, there are some writings where Xs are used to mean kisses in a letter, which may have come from the signature habit.
Many sites agree with this history, but they all admit it’s sketchy. The origin of O for hugs is even worse. Some say that Jewish people would use O rather than a cross for their signature, but it seems odd that that would turn into hugs. It was more probably created as a symbol to go along with X once people started using X for kisses.
We may live in a time when it is hazardous to give hugs and kisses freely, but we can always write XOXO on our cards and let people know that we love them.