Justine Larbalestier

reading, writing, eating, drinking, sport

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Kisses and hugs (updated)

I just had a fight over which is the kiss and which is the hug: the x or the o.

I say the x is the kiss on account of it’s representative of a scrunched up mouth. The o is a hug cause it’s arms in a circle which (unless you’re hugging yourself) is classic hugging action.

I will not share my friend’s strange delusion of what they mean because, really, too weird!

Then I asked Scott and he agreed with my friend. And even google says the friend is right.

Madness reigns! Or maybe it’s another one of those Oz versus US of A things? she asked hopefully.

Whatever. I have decided to ignore them all. For me the x is the kiss and the o is the hug.

xo

Justine

Update: I win! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Take that!

Though I totally fail at google . . .

Posted by Justine at 14:28, 11 August 2007 under Frippery | 35 Comments »

Comments

  1. The Bibliophile Says:

    I always thought the x’s were kisses too.

    August 11th, 2007 at 2:38 PM

  2. Alex A Says:

    The x is the kiss. Seriously. Everyone else is just wrong :D

    Alex–an Aussie living in Texas.

    August 11th, 2007 at 2:50 PM

  3. Heather Harper Says:

    I’m with you on this one.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:00 PM

  4. Laurel Lyon Says:

    I’ve been putting x as a kiss for 40 years!

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:00 PM

  5. Gwenda Says:

    See I always thought the X was the hug and the O was the kiss and that I was _wrong_, but doing it that way anyway.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:05 PM

  6. marrije Says:

    of course the x is the kiss! my six-year old knows that. the o thing must be a later addition or something, but x = kiss, definitely. since forever we’ve signed letters and postcards with xxx, never with ooo. le voila.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:14 PM

  7. Tim Walker Says:

    It’s sad to note that both your friend and your husband are wildly mistaken about this, to the point that you might want to suggest they be tested for early-onset dementia.

    The X is a kiss. The O is a hug. Full stop.

    This isn’t just my opinion, and it’s not a u.s. versus oz thing, becuase the court of final appeal (there would be capitals on that if possible) has spoken: Under the headword “X” in the oxford english dictionary we find

    “6. Used to represent a kiss, esp. in the subscription to a letter.”

    Q.E.D. The state rests.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:14 PM

  8. jennifer, aka literaticat Says:

    No! obviously the x is the hug and the o is the kiss.

    ‘hugs and kisses – xoxo’

    not ‘kisses & hugs – oxox’!!!

    x is representative of arms, hugging.

    o is representative of your mouth, kissing!

    (god australians are so weird. and wrong.)

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:15 PM

  9. R.J. Anderson Says:

    I, too, agree that kisses are x and hugs are o. It never even occurred to me to interpret them the other way around, or that anyone would.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:18 PM

  10. Elodie Says:

    x is the kiss, obviously.
    Unless you are french kissing, o is a mouth whistling, not a mouth kissing.
    I dunno, maybe your friend likes to end letters with french kisses ;)

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:20 PM

  11. jennifer, aka literaticat Says:

    damnation!

    though it pains me to admit this,

    it seems that i have been wrong my whole life

    *hate*

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:21 PM

  12. El Says:

    I’m American, and x’s are definitely kisses and o’s hugs. Now I guess I better go google.

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:28 PM

  13. El Says:

    AHA!

    http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=450133

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:29 PM

  14. orangedragonfly Says:

    i always thought x=kiss and o=hug. always.

    justine…i’m sorry to do this. i just had to share this because of the first line of the article. (although if you continue to read, the filmmaker himself admits he isn’t crazy about the “offensive creature’s” place in the film…)

    http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-08-09-fantasy-movies_N.htm

    :P

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:54 PM

  15. orangedragonfly Says:

    note: “offensive creature” was my paraphrase….didn’t want to be banned from the blog for typing the word…

    :P

    August 11th, 2007 at 3:55 PM

  16. Jo Says:

    I always thought x’s were kisses and o’s were hugs, too!

    Of course, I always thought the cat in Pepe Le Pew was a boy, too, so what do I know?

    August 11th, 2007 at 4:12 PM

  17. Ted Lemon Says:

    That’s totally weird – I’ve never heard of anyone thinking that x’s were hugs, and o’s were kisses. Your friend and Scott need to find a new supplier, that’s all I can say…

    August 11th, 2007 at 5:56 PM

  18. jenny davidson Says:

    x is definitely the kiss, i have never heard such an outrageous thing as to suggest otherwise! x both visually conjures up two sets of lips joining and sort of onomatopoietically suggests the smacking sound of a good kiss!

    August 11th, 2007 at 6:04 PM

  19. Kimmy Says:

    x= kisses I know this and I’m French Canadian
    We always put xxx in cards for kisses.

    August 11th, 2007 at 6:06 PM

  20. Kimmy Says:

    Also wikipedia says so too.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugs_and_Kisses

    August 11th, 2007 at 6:08 PM

  21. lili Says:

    this is the kind of earth-shaking thing that seriously turns your world upside-down. like realising that everyone else sees blue as red. or that your best friend prefers uni****s to zombies.

    August 11th, 2007 at 7:18 PM

  22. lili Says:

    (of COURSE x’s are kisses! as marrije pointed out – who ever signed a letter ooo!?)

    August 11th, 2007 at 7:19 PM

  23. janet Says:

    It seems a little redundant to say so at this point, but I, too, have always believed that the “x” stood for a kiss and the “o” for a hug.

    August 11th, 2007 at 7:44 PM

  24. jessiegirl Says:

    i thought x was kiss because it is clearly a visual of two mouths meeting, and therefore o had to be hug, it never occurred to me it could be something else.

    August 11th, 2007 at 8:07 PM

  25. Ben Payne Says:

    The X is a kiss. My partents told me this when I was a kid, and they would know, for in their day that was all you were allowed to do.

    Scott and your friend are clearly toying with you. Don’t let them make you any drinks (:

    August 11th, 2007 at 8:23 PM

  26. K Says:

    The O is a kiss! You pucker your lips, and it sort of makes and O. Plus, when you hug someone, you generally cross your arms. Scott and your friends are clearly right.

    August 11th, 2007 at 9:12 PM

  27. Lauren Cerand Says:

    There is a lovely poem that waxes philosophical on this very issue: “In XOXOXO,

    For example, Miss, which are the hugs

    And which the kisses? Does anybody know?

    I could argue either way…”
    http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16572

    August 11th, 2007 at 11:13 PM

  28. Darice Moore Says:

    x is kisses. o is hugs. We even have a children’s book in which the grandma who lives far away sends her grandson “x kisses and o hugs” because she isn’t there to give him real ones.

    August 12th, 2007 at 12:01 AM

  29. PT Sefton Says:

    Where I come from xxxx means beer. The Queensland Government allows us to put four kisses on messages only to recipients over the legal drinking age, which is 18 here.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xxxx

    August 12th, 2007 at 2:43 AM

  30. Shara Saunsaucie Says:

    I’m glad you won, because you’re right! :)

    So this is totally random, but I just finished reading your The Battle of Sexes in Science Fiction and posted my thoughts in my LJ. There’s a particular question I had, which is one of the reasons I’m sharing the link with you, though I’d share it with you anyway, just in case you were interested.

    http://calico-reaction.livejournal.com/40496.html

    I really enjoyed it, and I’m looking forward to reading Daughters of the Earth (and for that matter, when my book pile gets smaller, your fiction!)

    Cheers! :)

    August 12th, 2007 at 3:06 PM

  31. janet Says:

    Okay, here’s the weirdest answer yet.

    Me: Hey, Matt, when something says “XXXOOO,” which is the hug and which is the kiss?
    Matt: I don’t know.
    Me: How can you not know?
    Matt: Um…I don’t know.
    Me: Well, what do you guess?
    Matt: I have no idea.
    Me: Just try.
    Matt: I really have no idea.

    He wouldn’t even guess. I have married a very strange man.

    August 12th, 2007 at 3:15 PM

  32. Diana Says:

    The X are the kisses. I can’t believe this is even a debate.

    Back when people couldn’t write, they would put an X (the sign of a cross) on a piece of paper and would have someone kiss it, signifying an oath to christ that they would abide by whatever it was they were signing.

    Thus it came to be that X would signify that the paper had been kissed. So on love letters, they would put Xs to show kisses… and so on…

    August 12th, 2007 at 3:19 PM

  33. Patrick Says:

    You know, it’s awkward when you go in for an X and she’s only giving an O…

    August 12th, 2007 at 7:17 PM

  34. CherylR Says:

    I’ve always thought–no, assumed–that x’s were kisses and o’s were hugs. How can an x ever be a hug? You don’t cross your arms–you wrap your arms around someone, enclose them gently–like an o. I’m totally with you on this one! And it was fun to read. :)

    August 15th, 2007 at 7:27 PM

  35. georgey Says:

    Darling, you are right and Scott is most definiately and unreservedly..Wrong !

    August 21st, 2007 at 5:53 AM

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