# Why does X mean a kiss? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 10, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924 "2009-08-10T13:00:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/1 "2009-08-10T13:00:41Z")
The questions in the title ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/2 "2009-08-10T13:15:07Z")
One explanation I’ve heard is that it represents two pairs of lips touching: On the left: \> On the right: \< Approaching: \> \< Kissing: X ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/3 "2009-08-10T13:40:44Z")
Pronounce it: eks. Sounds somewhat like kiss, specially if you don’t emphasize the vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/4 "2009-08-10T16:02:20Z")
Over on ["How Stuff Works,](http://people.howstuffworks.com/valentine3.htm)" they have this to say: > [@](#): > > “How about the “X” sign representing a kiss? This tradition started with the Medieval practice of allowing those who could not write to sign documents with an “X”. This was done before witnesses, and the signer placed a kiss upon the “X” to show sincerity. This is how the kiss came to be synonymous with the letter “X”, and how the “X” came to be commonly used at the end of letters as kiss symbols. (Some believed “X” was chosen as a variation on the cross symbol, while others believe it might have been a pledge in the name of Christ, since the “X” – or Chi symbol – is the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet and has been used in church history to represent Christ.)” Seems plausable to me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/5 "2009-08-10T16:21:04Z")
See, it doesn’t seem very plausible to me because the first time I and my non-US classmates (from Argentina, China, Colombia, France, Germany and India among others) had seen exes and ohs in a signature was in the US and on the internet. Maybe it was a mixture of both things, but English-language only? I was familiar with signing with an X if you couldn’t sign your name, but that would be for official papers: if it was a personal letter (either written by yourself or by a scribe), the signature was your name. Does anybody know of any non-Anglo cultures where X meant kiss, pre-internet? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/6 "2009-08-10T16:29:06Z")
All this time I thought X (crossed arms) was a hug and O (puckered lips) was a kiss. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/7 "2009-08-10T16:33:28Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > All this time I thought X (crossed arms) was a hug and O (puckered lips) was a kiss. > > Ignorance fought. +1 And, FTR, I first saw ‘exes and ohs’ in the early '90s in a paper letter. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/8 "2009-08-10T17:16:12Z")
I always saw it as first part of a progression – start with x, end with xxx. I assumed xx would be heavy petting, or something. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/9 "2009-08-10T17:32:11Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > +1 > And, FTR, I first saw ‘exes and ohs’ in the early '90s in a paper letter. It goes back further than that. I can remember it being used in elementary school in 1983. The kids in my class were a little compulsive about making sure the number of XO’s was directly proportional to how much they liked you, leading to silly notes like “I had fun at your birthday party.” with XOXOXOXOXOXOXO filling up the remainder of the front of the page and all of the back. You knew the relationship was deteriorating if only the front of the page was filled up… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/10 "2009-08-10T17:37:04Z")
I can remember getting letters with XOXOXO from my grandmother, in the 1950’s. I would guess it was one of the first emoticons. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/11 "2009-08-10T17:42:39Z")
There’s some thoughts [on the subject in this thread on Domebo.](http://domebo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3102&p=73820) Nothing definitive, though. I’m a little bit skeptical of the signature explanation, but I’m pretty much skeptical of every explanation offered so far, although the two lips touching does seem more plausible than the other ones, to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/12 "2009-08-10T18:52:50Z")
I’m surprised Cecil has not answered this, actually. What languages/cultures use this? English in America Others? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/13 "2009-08-10T19:01:10Z")
It looks like a pair of puckered lips. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/14 "2009-08-10T19:11:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Does anybody know of any non-Anglo cultures where X meant kiss, pre-internet? Yes, around here (Quebec) it does. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/15 "2009-08-10T19:20:26Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > All this time I thought X (crossed arms) was a hug and O (puckered lips) was a kiss. Which lips are we talking about here? ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/16 "2009-08-10T21:15:25Z")
XXX :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/17 "2009-08-10T21:20:15Z")
Illiterates in the UK used to sign “X” instead of a signature, and the X was then witnessed. No idea how that relates, just a datapoint. And yes it’s totally ubiquitous over here, and Ireland too. (I have recently been corresponding with a girl I like - a lot - and due to this habit, today inadvertantly signed a business email with “Jim x”. Thankfully it was to a coworker with a sense of humour…) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/18 "2009-08-10T22:24:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I can remember getting letters with XOXOXO from my grandmother, in the 1950’s. > > I would guess it was one of the first emoticons. I remember it from the 50s too. Among kids, though, not from from my grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/19 "2009-08-10T22:43:59Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > All this time I thought X (crossed arms) was a hug and O (puckered lips) was a kiss. > > Ignorance fought. I always knew X = kiss and O = hug, but I never knew why. X kind of looks right for a kiss, but O for a hug? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924/20 "2009-08-11T00:25:09Z")
I’m sure we’ve done this before, but I can’t remember if I ever found out. I do remember calling my mom, and she said they did it in the late 1930’s. That’s all I can help with now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-x-mean-a-kiss/505924.md?page=2)