Name: Tutor Nick P Word Origins (87) Sealed with a Kiss or the Letter X Being a Symbol for Kisses
Uploaded: 2019-12-09T03:22:21.000Z
Duration: 4 min 28 s
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Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Word Origins 87.  Today we're going to cover

the origin of the term "sealed with a kiss' and X being a symbol of kisses.

Adverbs of frequency

Yeah. So let's look at the note here.  I've often wondered why X is a symbol for

several things that we use in English and this ... this , this video will , will

explain some of them. So let's look at the note here. Sometimes you may see

letters to loved ones signed with X's and O's,  meaning hugs and kisses.  Yeah.  I can

remember as  a kid thinking why are X's supposed to be kisses ? Where did that come from ?

I guess the" O" for a hug makes a little more sense because maybe it's kind of

circular. You know,  when you hug someone but I always remember thinking that why

is an X a kiss ? Well,  what's the connection ? All right. Let's continue here.

Sometimes people may use the abbreviation SWAK.

I guess S-W-A- K as sealed with a kiss,  instead of writing the words seal for the

kiss. We also cannot forget X or xxx is a symbol for a dirty movie in which there

is supposed to be a lot of kissing and this is another thing later on I kind of

wondered why did they say like an X-rated movie ? Where did this X come from ?What is

X have to do with sex ? Maybe you know,  you you might have a thought maybe it

has to do with the X on the word at the end of the word sex. But no. That's not it.

it was connected to the idea of kissing Well let's continue. The origin in this

phrase and practice goes back to the Bible ironically.  St. Andrew one of the

Apostles of Jesus was sentenced to death by crucifixion for spreading

Christianity. Yeah,  especially in the early days,  being a Christian was a

dangerous thing. It could cost you your life to try to spread the religion.

However,  he requested an x-shaped cross because he did not consider himself worthy

to die the same way as Jesus. So he knew was going to be crucified , but he didn't

want to be crucified straight up. He wanted it to be kind of on a sideways

angle because he didn't think he was worthy like Jesus. So this is where the

X comes in.  So it's an x-shaped cross. Kind of like

sideways. Okay Let's continue. During the Middle Ages most people were illiterate.

You know,  most people didn't know how to read or write and could not even sign

their own names on contracts. In order to make the contract legal the signer

used an X. This is another thing I used to wonder about. You see this in cowboy days

where people just use an X like you used to think well how do they know the

difference ?  I mean anybody can do an X.  How do you know that belongs to

that person ?  But that's what they used to do to represent St. Andrew. So that's

where the X came from. So when they didn't know how to write their own name

and they wrote an X,  it was supposed to represent St. Andrew. And to prove their

honesty and sincerity they would kiss the X. Okay. To seal the deal. So this is

where if we get sealed with a kiss. So they wrote the X and then they kissed it.

I don't know how did they recognize their lip prints ? I don't know.  I'm not sure to

seal the deal. Thus the phrase sealed with a kiss was born. So this is where it

actually came from. All right.  And  all right let's just give one

example here. She signed the letter to her boyfriend sealed with a kiss. Yes.

Some people actually write it out or they may use you know  S-W-A-K and then

left the impression of her lips with lipstick. Yeah. So maybe she was wearing

lipstick and she actually kissed the letter you know,  kind of a romantic thing

to do. So anyway. So now you know,  so now you know kind of where the X came from

for people. You know,  signing when they don't know how to sign their own name Why X

is connected to the idea of kissing. Yeah.  Why we why we use X for X-rated movies.

Okay. Well, anyway.  I hope you got it . I hope you found it informative.