Tuesday, February 14, 2012

SIGNING LOVE LETTERS WITH X’s

 

love-letters

Love letters throughout the year are often signed with a string of "X's" to represent kisses. The practice of using an "X" grew out of the Medieval practice of letting those who could not write, mark documents with an "X" to represent their names.

This was done in the presence of Witnesses and a kiss was given upon the "X:" to show sincerity. The "X" then became synonymous with the kiss in the minds of most people.

There are two possible explanations why an "X" was chosen to represent one's name.

One explanation is that the "X" shape was originally thought of as a cross. This "X" shaped cross was the symbol of St. Andrew. It may have been that people were making a pledge in the name of the Saint.

The second explanation is that it may have been a pledge in the name of Christ. The "X", or chi symbol is also a letter of the Greek alphabet, which has also been used to represent the name of Christ.

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