HIGH LIFE : Author Isn’t About to Kiss-Off History of Xs

“Imponderables are questions that cannot be answered by numbers or measurements or standard reference books,” writes David Feldman in the introduction to his book “Imponderables.”

“They are the kinds of questions that haunt you for hours . . . until you forget about them before you ever find their solutions.”

Such questions as: “Why does an X stand for a kiss?”

Feldman’s reply: “Those cute little XXXs we affix to Valentine’s Day cards and mash notes, with or without their companion OOO’s, began not as symbols of affection, but as substitutes for signatures in the Middle Ages, when the vast majority of citizens were illiterate.

“But the X was also used by well-educated people, who were quite capable of signing their names, and was found on even the most formal and important documents--wills, contracts, deeds and proclamations. Even kings and queens signed with the X as a symbol of good faith--an oath that the contents of a document were true. In some cultures, an X became a compulsory binding oath--without it, a contract or agreement was considered invalid and not legally binding.

“It was not an accident that the X was chosen as the substitute for a signature, and, contrary to popular belief, it did not gain acceptance because of its simplicity for the illiterate.

“The acceptance of the X had everything to do with Christian symbolism. The X was the sign of St. Andrew, one of the 12 apostles; signing the X implied a guarantee to live up to one’s promises in that saint’s name.

“The X also had intimate associations with Christ himself. The X was regarded as a visual representation of the Cross of the Calvary and the Crucifixion, and X, as well as an English letter, is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ, Christos. (The Greek letter, of course, is chi .)

“How did this legal and religious symbol metamorphose into a romantic one? To further guarantee the sincerity of intentions, people in the Middle Ages solemnly kissed their signatures, much as we put our hand on a Bible to swear to our veracity in court. This kiss became known as the ‘kiss of truth,’ and because the kiss finalized and bound many agreements, it spawned another saying that many think had romantic origins--’sealed with a kiss.’

“Over the years, as notaries public, literacy and lie detectors lessened the need for the mark, the X lost its sacred connotations. It reached its peak in popularity in the early and mid-20th Century. During World War II, the British and American military were so alarmed by its constant use that they forbade their soldiers from putting XXXs in their letters home, fearing that spies might insert cryptic codes into these humble marks, which once stood for truth.”

“Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung.”

--Voltaire (1694-1778)