LaaLaa's Attic

 祝大家新年快乐～！

Do You know the meaning of 'xoxo'?

Hugs and Kisses is a term for a sequence of the letters X and O, e.g. XOXO, typically used by lovers to express affection at the end of a written letter or email.

It is debatable which letter represents which act. Some interpret X as the crossed arms of a hug and O as the puckered lips of a kiss. However, the interpretation assumed in the following, in which X represents the four lips of a kiss and O the four arms of a hug, is more common.

The use of XOXO goes back to the use of an X or cross, which was considered as good as a sworn oath in times before most people could write and therefore used the X in the same way a signature is used today — a mark of one's word.

An X at the end of a letter or document was often kissed as a seal of honesty, in much the same way one would kiss a Bible or kiss the fingers after making the sign of the cross, thus the X came to represent a kiss in modern times.

The origins of the O as a hug are not generally known, although it is speculated that it may represent the arms wrapped around someone being hugged. Another thought is that it came from Jewish immigrants who would sign with an O instead of an X because they did not wish to mark their word with the obviously non-Jewish cross the X represented.

It is also said that X represents kisses because the letter X in Spanish is named "equis" which has a similar pronunciation as "a kiss".

Where did the custom of putting Xs and Os at the bottom of a letter come from?

 

The first mention in literature of XXX for kisses at the bottom of a letter was in 1901, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The X itself is very old.

 

The custom goes back to the early Christian era, when a cross mark or "X" was the same as a sworn oath. The cross referred to the cross of Calvary and the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos.

 

Even as little as a hundred and fifty years ago, not many people could read or write. The "X" at the bottom of a document took the place of a signature. They would kiss the "X" as a crucifix or bible was kissed to emphasize the importance of the mark. It was this practice that lead to the "X" representing a kiss.

 

There isn't much known about the beginnings of the "O". It is a North American custom. The "O" represents the arms in a circle around another person. Arms crossed in front of you do not mean the "X" as a hug! The "O" is the hug.

 

In "The Joys of Yiddish" by Leo Rosten, it is noted that illiterate immigrants (or those who did not know Roman-English letters) would generally sign entry forms with an "X" but Jews preferred an "O" to avoid making something that looked like a cross. Also, shopkeepers and salesmen would similarly sign receipts with a circle. Could this be the origin of the "O"?

 

Or could it have developed from the game of tic tac toe, where one player uses the "X" and another the "O", leading people to think that the "O" was the hug, as the "X" is the kiss.

 

另外，我还查了一下

XOXO是一家极具风格的时尚礼品店。 其实代表 “Hugs and Kisses”（亲亲抱抱），“X” 代表亲亲所留下的唇印，“O” 则代表拥抱、环抱；我们以此为店名因为它代表着传情达意的两种很重要的元素。　在XOXO有卖世界著名的Precious Moments《宝贝时光》品牌的塑像及礼品系列和Monchhichi系列。

我再来解释，XOXO，就是2人喝XO(Extra Old,(白兰地规格, 藏窖年份40-75年))，你说那能不XX & OO吗？也解释了为什么那么多人喜欢喝XO，原来它还有这功效哈 ^_^