X's and O's = Hugs & Kisses

By: Amy Cunningham

Sure, you give them a hug and a kiss in person each day, but there are times when that may not be possible. When it happens, use the classic X's and O's to represent your hugs and kisses! Apparently, signing a letter with an X as a kiss dates all the way back to 1756, but there's no clear origin for using O's to represent hugs. The use of an X to represent a kiss goes back to early Christian history when many could not read or write. It became common for people to place a kiss on their letters, then put an X on top of it. The hug on the other hand is said to represent your arms circling around your partner in an embrace.

X and O Facts

Did you know....?

X's symbolize kisses and O's symbolize hugs.
Capital X's symbolize smooches, while lower case x's symbolize pecks.
Capital O's symbolize bear hugs, while lower case o's symbolize squeezes.
The most common way to send hugs & kisses this way is XOXO.

Romantic X's and O's Ideas

Here are several romantic ideas for using X's and O's:

Get a children's magnetic alphabet set and leave an XOXO message on the fridge for him to find. Or, get several sets and place x's and o's all over the fridge!
This is one of my favorites! Give her this gorgeous X and O necklace from Blue Nile.
Make chocolate X and O shaped cookies.
Give him Hershey's hugs and Hershey's Kisses arranged in the form of X's and O's. Or slip some hugs & kisses, along with an XOXO note, in his jacket pocket or her purse.
Buy Alphabet shaped pasta and use only the x's and o's.
Bake cookies in the shapes of X's and O's.
Send her an email filled with nothing but X's and O's.
Send her a text message with a simple XOXO as the message.
Send her an encrypted message in the middle of x's and o's, such as:
XOXOXOXOXOIXOXOXOXOXO
XLXOXOXOXOX0XOXOXVOXE
XOXOXOYOXOXOXOXUXOXOX