Thursday, April 9, 2009

XO XO


I have always debated with people when you say XOXO which is hugs and which is kisses. I have come to believe that X is hugs because it relates to the crossing of arms with hugging, and O is lips because it relates to the shape of lips. Well my brother just sent me the Wikipedia article debating this very fact. It says:

"Hugs and kisses, also love and kisses, is a term for a sequence of the letters X and O, e.g. XOXO, typically to express affection or good friendship at the end of a written letter, email or SMS text message.
There is much debate on whether X's represent hugs or kisses. Some argue that X's represent kisses, but due to the "hugs and kisses" paradigm, some contend that 'X' is in fact lined up with the 'hug' and 'O' with the kiss. Also, arms crossing while hugging indicate an X while puckered lips form an O. Nevertheless, this proposition is contradicted by the Oxford English Dictionary, which states that 'X' is "used to represent a kiss, esp. in the subscription to a letter."[1]. The Shawks Inc. encyclopedia, an authority in urban lingo, has it that the 'O' represents a hug, and the 'X' a kiss, with the explanation that if you look at each letter like it was representing two people from a bird's eye view, the "O" represents the arms of those persons hugging each other while the "X" is evocative of two people kissing."


What do you guys think?

5 comments:

NICE. DANG. PAES. said...

I've decided that I think X=hugs and O=kisses. For two key reasons.
1) X is like wrapping your arms around someone and O is like lips.
2) And I think this is the most important, the order is XO, and the phrase is Hugs & Kisses. So the order should match up.

Not to mention the "bird's eye view" definition is ridiculous and bogus.

FutureLint said...

hmm... I've always thought the X was kiss and O was hug, but I guess the other way makes sense too!

annie said...

i like them both. they both make sense. this is TUFF.

an X is the more bad-ass of the letters though, and kissing is more bad-ass persay than hugging..

O is very Opening your arms...

i think that is how i am going to reason it out...

mariandreaisabel said...

It is very funny because I read this expression in many blogs, here in Latin America is not used, and now I understand more reading "Hugs & Kisses." I think the "x"
may well represent an embrace, as one crosses the
arms to hug someone, the "O" gives me a little
doubts about whether or not it represents a kiss. I think
boths "XO" could represent a tender kiss with eyes closed ...
Muchos Saludos desde Chile
XOXO

Anonymous said...

I thought it ment:
kiss on your arse! twice!