Love. Love is on my mind Facebook, in all its depth. It’s obvious to anyone who has been in love how the heart came to symbolize love. Love gets you. Right … there.
But where did XOXO come from, and when did someone decide that these nondescript and not lovely letters came to symbolize love? Questions often lead to answers, or sometimes more questions. Here are some answers and questions I found while researching the use of the XO for a story.
Hugs and kisses, right? Some say they are naturally contrasting symbols, so the ‘O’ became a natural complement to the ‘X’ to serve as the accompanying wrapping hug to a loving smoochie kiss. Others say Xes are arms wrapping and O’s are puckered lips. Still others connect it with Naughts (nothings) and Crosses, a mid 1800s game we now call Tic Tac Toe, a game, like love, some people say is silly to play because you can’t win.
XO may have come from the phrase “sweet nothings.”
But what about that x? How is it sweet?
Here are some answers:
Way back when, not everyone was literate–even enough to write their names. Some say they signed with an x because it was simple. some say it was related to treasure, and some mark its beginnings as Chi., X. the first letter in “Christ” that the early Christians used to let it be known that they believed.
So maybe signing with X meant “in good faith, faithfully.”
Nowadays, Xes are the “nothing”– the crossing out of what was, and Os often circle what we want, or is a ring symbolizing the forever we want with the one we love. Faithfully.
Whatever the Xes and Os mean to you, love is ever and always THE answer. Everything.
May we love as Christ loves.
This has been your Valentine Tuesday Trivia Tidbit
XOXOXO