Why does "xoxo" mean "hugs and kisses"?

Search: xoxo origin

Why: Richard is curious:

Answer: The custom of signing letters this way dates back to the early Christian era. "X" equaled:

• A sworn oath
• The cross of Calvary
• The first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Xristos

Then, people continued to be illiterate for several hundred years. They "made their mark" at the bottom of documents in the form of an X. They would kiss the X like a crucifix or bible was kissed to emphasize its importance. It was this practice that lead to the X representing a kiss.

The O is a North American thing. The "O" represents the arms in a circle around another person.

Source: HugKiss.com

The More You Know: In The Joys of Yiddish, Leo Rosten notes that while illiterate immigrants (or those who did not know Roman-English letters) would generally sign entry forms with an X, Jewish immigrants preferred an O to avoid making something that looked like a cross.

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