Who invented xoxo?

Answer 1

The use of XOXO goes back to the use of an X or cross, which was considered as good as a sworn oath in times before most people could write and therefore used the X in the same way a signature is used today --- a mark of one's word.

An X at the end of a letter or document was often kissed as a seal of honesty, in much the same way one would kiss a Bible or kiss the fingers after making the sign of the Christian cross, thus the X came to represent a kiss in modern times.

Robert Hendrickson in his "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" states:

"One theory holds that the X stands for a kiss because it originally

represented a highly stylized picture of two mouths touching -- x.

Furthermore, in early times illiterates often signed documents with a

St. Andrew's cross of X and kissed that X to show their good faith (as

they did with any cross or The Bible, which reinforced the

association). But these explanations may be folk etymology, as may the story that mathematically the X is a 'multiplier' -- in this case of love and delight." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997)."

The origins of the O as a hug are not generally known, although it is speculated that it may represent the arms wrapped around someone being hugged. Another thought is that it came from Jewish immigrants who would sign with an O instead of an X because they did not wish to mark their word with the obviously Christian cross the X represented.

It is also said that X represents kisses because the letter X in Spanish is named "equis" which has a similar pronunciation as "a kiss".