We have all seen the “With Love, Philly XOXO” billboards and commercials, but this month the hugs and kisses symbols are plastered around Penn Station in New York City hoping that the millions of ...

“The kiss became ‘If I kiss that man, then this is the man I love and want,’” says Danesi. “So much was packed into that symbol of a kiss. … It has become a kind of collective memory.

As Valentine’s Day draws near, candy hearts emblazoned with XOXO, as in “hugs and kisses,” remind us that love is in the air. ... so as not to use a Christian symbol.

This may be when the “x” first became associated with the kiss: It was customary to close books with a kiss, and oaths of fealty to kings were sealed with a kiss. “Symbols have a way of jumping from ...

X and O had a fascinating journey to become the hugs and kisses of today. Here's what medieval blessings, the game of tic/tac/toe and kisses have in common.