Hugs and Kisses OOO XXXX

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 8:37pm

We're having a friendly disagreement at work that I thought I would share with you all.

When you sign a card or a letter and you put X's and OOO's that means "Hugs and Kisses", right? Here's the debate: Are the X's the kisses or the O's?

I say X = hug (like 2 arms crossing one another)
O = kiss(like the shape of the mouth when one gives a peck on the cheek.)

But a number of people say I have it backwards. Who's right?

X OOO

D

[on1ystarinthesky]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 8:40pm

I think you do have it backwards. I'm pretty sure O's are hugs because of the O shape your arms make when you hug someone, and X's are kisses just because it makes sense in ways I can't describe right now.

Now, here's a thought: What does RSVP stand for?

Updated On: 1/8/04 at 08:40 PM

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 8:42pm

RSVP >abbreviation répondez s'il vous plaît; please reply (used at the end of invitations).
-ORIGIN from French.

[on1ystarinthesky]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 8:44pm

Oooh...learn somethin' new everyday.

[shermanslave]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:07pm

DoB, thank you for that RSVP reference. I knew it one time and could not recall!

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:09pm

You can thank the spell checker in Word Perfect. That's where I got it from.

D

[on1ystarinthesky]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:10pm

Thank you, Spell Checker!

[shermanslave]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:12pm

God Bless Spell Checker. And with that fabulous post I think I may finally be a featured actor. Oh, if only it were true.

[on1ystarinthesky]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:13pm

*confetti, streamers, and balloons* Yay for shermanslave!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:19pm

Xs are for kisses and Os are for hugs. And according to Shirley Feeney on the pilot episode of Laverne & Shirley, "RSVP" is "French for 'Respond So Very Promptly.'"

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:23pm

Well the polls all seem to say I'm wrong. But I just don't get it. I've never seen a mouth make a shape like an X.

Who comes up with this stuff anyway?

D

[on1ystarinthesky]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 9:24pm

Got me. I know there is some sort of explanation about the X thing, but it's not coming to me at this moment. Something about stamps, I think..I dunno.

[shermanslave]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 10:16pm

well there was a woman on Extreme Makeovers once and her lips sorta looked like X's. Then when they were done they looked all pouty and cute.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 1/8/04 at 10:17pm

Hah!

[RobbO]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 12:32am

here's what i could find on the subject:

X -- "…One theory holds that the X stands for a kiss because it originally represented a highly stylized picture of two mouths touching -- x. Furthermore, in early times illiterates often signed documents with a St. Andrew's cross of X and kissed that X to show their good faith (as they did with any cross or the Bible, which reinforced the association). But these explanations may be folk etymology, as may the story that mathematically the X is a 'multiplier' -- in this case of love and delight." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

The x came first, in letters, and on envelopes. The O's began appearing later. I was under the impression that the O's were for hugs, but if you say it stands for love... then it may be the same as "love" in tennis, standing for zero.

[Phantom2]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 1:13am

I always thought it was some sex thing.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 1:15am

only when I say to you Phantom

Posted: 1/9/04 at 1:58am

well i always write xoxoxo and refer to it as hugs and kiss so i wouldve guessed x was a hug and 0 a kiss but either way can be justified.

-Christina

[CJR]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 2:24am

X is definitely a kiss. if you think about it, when you pucker up, you kinda make an x shape.

O is definitely a hug. When you hug a person, you put your arms around them, hence the O shape :)

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 5:43am

"You May spell

'Love' with a capitol 'L'

But I spell 'Love'

With a capitol 'U'!"

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/9/04 at 6:48pm

Thanks to all for your input. I admit I may have been wrong about it. Thanks for the history on it, RobbO. I confess even with 2 mouths, I STILL don't see an X. What can I say?

I told the group at work that ya'll voted for their version and got a LOT of "Told ya so's".

So what this means is that when I thought I was getting a kiss, I was getting a hug and when I was getting a hug, it was a kiss.

Hummm, so he sent me a kiss but no hug. Interesting. And I thought it was just a friendly hug.

D

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 1/10/04 at 7:49am

It's all about context...

[zannafan]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 10:51pm

DofB5,
You are NOT alone in thinking that the hugs are x's and the kisses are o's. I myself have had this debate with a friend before. I TOTALLY used the exact same reasoning you did to say why the x's were hugs and the o's were kisses. We might be wrong, but the fact that we both thought it, means it is not that far fetched. Coolio:)
Nick

[DofB5]

Posted: 1/16/04 at 11:08pm

Thanks. I've found a few others that think we're right too.

I still don't get an X out of a kiss. I see two crossed arms.

I've heard/read about people forming an "O" never an "X" and not just for a kiss.

Oh well, I guess it's not an earth shattering thing but interesting. I say kiss, you say hug, let's call the whole thing off...

[etoile]

Posted: 1/17/04 at 12:22am

Or perhaps if he just signed an "X" that may be how he writes his name. Seen it happen before.