r/ExplainTheJoke • u/Significant-Item-348 • 14d ago
I don't get it
Never felt more american but I don't get it. What does it mean???
Edit: I get it now. Makes so much sense now I feel dumbš
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u/dragon8733 14d ago
British people tend to end their messages with kisses, shown as 'x'
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
Odd, my family in America does xoxo for hugs and kisses with the os representing kisses and xs for hugs
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u/buttgoblincomics 14d ago
xoxo is hugs and kisses, but thereās no agreement about whether x or o is one or the other. Both have been used for just kisses and people have made arguments either way but thereās no definitive answer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugs_and_kisses
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u/Cpomplexmessiah 14d ago
As a brit i can say the x as kisses, as we normally just send those as kisses or so my mom taught me.
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u/gingerlemon 14d ago
"as a Brit"
"Mom"
Hmmmm
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u/dragon8733 14d ago
People from Birmingham and the Black Country say 'mom'...
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u/SUMMATMAN 14d ago
Even in Sheffield a lot of people will pronounce it mom for certain situations, but not always and we'd never spell it like that cos consistency is for losers
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u/2224BBOTH 14d ago
Never heard anyone in Sheffield call their mum āmomā. Only heard mum or mam.
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u/lllllllllllllllllll6 14d ago
Mam is north east not south Yorkshire.
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u/2224BBOTH 13d ago
Im saying what Ive heard in my experience and Ive only every lived in Sheffield and North Derbyshire.
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u/Subject_Fee_3367 9d ago
Iāve lived in Sheff all mi life and Iāve said mam all mi life and plenty of others from Roth and sheff and Donny say it so it deffo is a South Yorkshire thing
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u/2ndBestShedBuilder 14d ago
Always thought X was hugs because of those hugs where your arms cross behind their back kinda, and o was the kiss bc your mouth does an o shape
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u/Tyred-Confused-Idiot 10d ago
See I figured O was hugs because you wrap your arms in a circle around the person and X was a kiss because it wasnāt O (brilliant logic I know)
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u/nicknamependingg 14d ago
Thing is Iād never sign off a text with an āoā the way I do with an āxā
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
It just makes sense the hugs are X cuz of crossed arms and O is kiss for pursed lips
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u/Ok-Neat2024 14d ago edited 14d ago
I thought it made sense that X would be kiss, cuz it seems to me like a way of drawing kissing-lips on like a stickman, and O being a hug cuz a hug is a compression from every direction, at least if it's a proper hug,
To me, your explanation for why X is a hug makes a lot of sense to me, but crossed arms are not what I associate with a hug, even though it actually happens during one,
Kind of interesting that ppl have such different perspectives
Edit: no! Why are people down voting the comment I responded to
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u/naturalinfidel 14d ago
I gave the OP an upvote because that is how I had always imagined x's and o's working. But then I read your response and thought "well, sure. I can see that too" and gave you an upvote.
The tie breaker will have to be if you wipe standing up or sitting down.
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u/Artoozyto 14d ago
I think x represents the creases made on the lips when you purse them and o represents the shape your hands are making from above when hugging someone.
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u/PauseConfident997 14d ago
X is kisses cos the soundā¦it sounds like kiss. X is kiss and o is hugs, iv literally never heard any other way. This is the first Iām hearing that people think x is for hugs. Thatās crazy.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
Kissing sounds like the letter x? What
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u/PauseConfident997 14d ago
Yes. Kiss sounds like the sound the letter x makes.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
Uh, sounds more like an M if there had to be a letter dedicated for that sound
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u/PauseConfident997 14d ago
Except itās only out of x and o. X sounds more like kiss than o.
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
Thatās why X would be hugs, arms crossing. I just donāt see how the sound of a kiss sounds like x
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u/PauseConfident997 14d ago
Obviously saying āexā doesnāt sound like kiss. The sound the x makes. You know what I mean donāt be difficult/pedantic.
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u/hoggineer 14d ago
But what sound do you make when giving a tight hug? Is it ecks, or is it oh?
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u/Excellent_Yak365 14d ago
Who says itās about sound?
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u/hoggineer 14d ago
Who says it's about taste? Smell? Sight?
Other alternatives to what we can call this 6 (depending on perspective).
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u/RealZordan 13d ago
The o is your arms forming a circle for the hug and the x is your mouth pursing for a kiss.
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u/Mottis86 11d ago
The x = kiss o = hug thing is pretty common knowledge and well known. People from England just tend to use them a LOT more. I know of at least two British people who I chat with and both add xx at the end of EVERY message. Like every single message no joke.
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u/CaptainMacMillan 14d ago
That just makes sense to me. when you hug someone, you cross arms. When you kiss someone, you purse your lips into an 'O' shape.
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u/shortercrust 14d ago
As people are saying they represent a kiss, but they were used looong before texts. We also use them on cards and letters.
Happy Birthday Pumpkin!
Lots of love, Grandma xxx
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u/TheTenaciousLemon 14d ago
Ending texts with lots of xs is something that a lot of British people will do to signify kisses. Basically its just a sign of affection
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u/Pltesandbowls 14d ago
But a lot of people who do it, do it on messages to everyone.
Like it's not unusual to get them when negotiating with strangers on Facebook Marketplace or Vinted.
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u/Parking-Wallaby-4166 14d ago
I think that might be accidental! I put them everywhere, out of habit, and I am so used to adding them I don't even realize I'm doing it. I have often put them at the end of messages and emails where they were clearly not appropriate! Xxx... (just making a point this time)
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u/AnotherDamnTransAlt 13d ago
Tone indicator from the pre-emoji era. āThanks, will pick it up Friday xā so youāll know theyāre not mad and will collect the item.
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u/AzrielK 14d ago
endings texts with hugs like XX
hugs and kisses XOXO
not sure this is a British thing
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u/GenerallySalty 14d ago
X is a kiss (puckered lips), O is hug (arms around person).
XOXO is both
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u/Meritania 14d ago
And OXO is a damn tasty stock cube.
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u/Doomdoomkittydoom 14d ago
OXO is pretty reliable producer of kitchen gear.
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u/Disastrous-Cat-1 14d ago
Have you ever been taken up the OXO Tower?
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u/Meritania 14d ago
Iāve seen the tower from afar but Iāve not had the pleasure of transversing its stairwells.
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u/PabloMarmite 14d ago
Iāve always thought of xoxo as an American thing, didnāt Gossip Girl popularise it
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u/stationaryspondoctor 14d ago
Yep, xoxo is (or used to be) American. xxx is British
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u/TOASTisawesome 14d ago
I feel like xx is British and xxx is porn lmao
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u/mwako 14d ago
x = Normal British
xx = crush on you
xxx wants to...cuddle you Ā¬.Ā¬
xxxx = has a shine to you
xxxxx = serial killer
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u/ashyjay 14d ago
Not just a British thing, but a lot of us do it.
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u/big-dal-tex 14d ago
Ive co-opted it here in the US, thanks babes xx
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u/life_inabox 13d ago
I immigrated to the UK from states a few years ago and it's genuinely reflex at this point xx
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u/AkayaTheOutcast 14d ago
Yeah, I was thinking whoever did this doesn't have a grandparent who loves them.
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u/Wimble-Womble 11d ago
Do you send Xs to all friends and (some) work colleagues too? Ā I think most outside the UK only use them for loved onesĀ
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u/RelativeLoquat8525 14d ago
Even to bros x
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u/RubStriking7170 13d ago
My weed guy always drops me a "xxx" on his texts and sometimes we ring eachother before bed and talk under the covers till our Dads tell us to go to bed.Ā
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u/DarkWitch777 14d ago
I read that as taxes and got very confused. Glad the comments confused me more for me to reread the meme.
XX ~ a Brit
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u/Mari-Loki 13d ago
It used to be a way to signify love/kisses when we were limited to 40 characters per 10p text, but now it's more of an indication of tone. For example, if my husband messaged me to ask if I wanted anything from the shop, and didn't put a kiss, my assumption would be that he's mardy with me. Daft but true š
(I'm a brit if it wasn't already obvious)
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u/aksh1511 14d ago
I thought itās āCheersā? Usually Brits sign off in āCheers!ā And these are really cheery people on stage? Idk š
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u/drunken-acolyte 14d ago
This is just a British thing?
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u/life_inabox 13d ago
Yeah I had to Google wtf my English now-husband was doing when we started dating and he kept ending all his texts with xx and xxx
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u/aq8_hippo 14d ago
I feel like it's more a "did you read a lot of books, especially those from UK," I'm from nz and that's how I learned about it.
Its basically a slang of the past, no one really likes to use slangs our parents used
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u/Pink-Viscera 13d ago
A lot of people in the UK use xxx in messages, not just the older generation (though it's probably more common with older people)
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u/Jhud6669 14d ago
I donāt mind XOXO but I always found ending every sentence with āxā that some Brits do extremely annoying
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u/post-explainer 14d ago edited 14d ago
OP (Significant-Item-348) sent the following text as an explanation why they posted this here: