Hugs and kisses
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1][2][3][4]
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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b "Oxford English Dictionary - X". Oxford University press. 1999. http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50288416. Retrieved on 2007-02-01.
- ^ "ask.yahoo.com". http://ask.yahoo.com/20050415.html.
- ^ "www.hugkiss.com/valentine/xoxo.shtml". http://www.hugkiss.com/valentine/xoxo.shtml.
- ^ "www.acronymfinder.com". http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?acronym=XOXO.
