X is for kiss

When someone signs a card with xxxxxx and ooooooo's, what does the x stand for?  I looked online and wouldn't ya know it, someone posted this very question on http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=450133.  The answer: X is for kiss.

 These days when speaking to people by texting on our cell phone or using the internet, there are many symbols used to say good bye and hello.  I think most of us know that xxxx's and oooo's mean kisses and hugs, knowing which is which is another thing. To make sure we're all on the same page, here is a key for some of the common symbols used to express affection today.

ooo = hugs


xxx = kisses

OOO = big hugs

XXX = big kisses

oo = hugs for everybody but you

OO! = big, excited hugs

CCC = hugs for people you can't quite reach around

OOQ = hugging with tongue

xx@ = kisses and earlobe nibbling

zzz = snoring

yyy = anything that occurs between kissing and snoring"

http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/jokes/90q4/hugsf.html

One theory of how the X became the symbol for kiss is looking back to the way of people in the Medieval times. Back then, illiterate people would sign documents with a cross to show their sincerity and then to seal the deal, this cross was kissed.  People hurried the t signature, so the cross would often end up looking like an X.  And also back in the day, Jewish people signed their documents with an O. Now it is used as a symbol of arms embracing.
 

The quote below is sort of gross to think about.  I've seen one too many Saturday Night Live shows displaying the sharing of food in this manner.   I'm thankful that I went to the grocery store to pick up jars of baby food when my children were young. But hey,  it makes sense that the origin of kissing would begin this way. I'm thankful for the evolution of the kiss X.

"Anthropologists think kissing’s origins are to be found in primitive times when mothers chewed food and transferred it directly from their mouths to their babies’ mouths, a method of preparing baby food that is still practiced in some cultures today."    Jul 25, 2004 - © Sharon K. West

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