Welcome to the A to Z Challenge!
Finding these little French and American words has not exactly been a piece of cake or pas du gâteau in French.
I knew from the beginning that when letter X and I would cross paths I would meet the heck of a challenge.
So for today’s letter X, instead of posting about an identical English or French word that carries a different meaning whether it’s used in the USA or in France, I’ll give you one term that conveys the exact same meaning in both countries.
Used in France and in the USA, my two favorite homes on earth, this term is also used in other countries around the world, proof that some words have the power to unite us.
XOXO
XOXO is a casual term used at the end of a letter, email, or text to express hugs and kisses to friends or family members. Probably good to avoid in business.
There is controversy as to which letter (‘O’ or ‘X‘) represents which action (‘hug’ or ‘kiss’).
Do we really care if X or O represents the arms or the mouth as long as we send each other hugs and kisses?
In addition XOXO is also an American brand of clothes and accessories for young women and children.
And XOXO is also short for eXtensible Open XHTML Outlines. Not as cute and sweet as hugs and kisses, but very useful, though. Ask any high tech person in your life for more details…
Do you know of a French or English word starting with the letter X that has a different meaning whether it’s used in France or the USA?
Connaissez-vous un mot français ou anglais commençant par la lettre X qui a un sens différent selon qu’il soit utilisé en France ou aux Etats Unis?
See you tomorrow with the letter Y
Evelyne Holingue 
Superbe! xoxo
Merci! That was a little bit of a stretch but this is a tough letter, this letter Z.
I have a secret weapon for Z! X was tough enough, I admit to have cheated 😉
Oh, I like that handwritten note from you, Evelyne. Merci for putting together such thoughtful posts. You’ve educated me a lot throughout April. And I would have loved a definitive answer to which way around we should read X and O (hugs or kisses :D) Because sometimes, people just include xx here, which I presume are hugs.
Thank you, merci, Gulara. People seem to have different opinions about the X and the O. Personally I tend to think that X are the arms for the hug and O the mouth for the kiss. Here, in the US, most people use XOXO but also (because Americans love shortcuts) just XO. I don’t think I ever saw XX. Neither OO by the way! See you tomorrow.
Actually, I am using xx sometimes, but to me it means kisses… 😎
Merci beaucoup pour cette magnifique série de posts, Evelyne. Je suis curieuse de découvrir Y et Z.
Some of my friends use XO and not XOXO. En tous cas merci pour votre commentaire qui me fait plaisir. A plus tard alors!
Hahah. X is always challenging. J’ attends l’ X, Y et Z!
Y is a tough one but I was kind of covered with Z and got an extra idea this morning, as I was reading another blog. 😊
I always thought that the x droid for kiss. I was very confused when I first saw an xoxo I thought the person had “misspelled” xxx at the end of a letter.
To be frank, I have no definite answer. A good friend of mine started to use XOXO at the end of her e-mails many years ago, before it became such a trend. I still don’t but I’m glad for the term, otherwise I was stuck for the letter X. Thanks, Solveig.
Other than x-ray, I don’t know any x-words. Except for x-rated 🙂
I thought of both words, but unfortunately I’ve been trying to pick words that both French and Americans use but with a different meaning. I know it was a weird idea I got! I’m almost finished and I want to thank you for your support.
I didn’t know xoxo was so universal. How nice that it is.
It’s true that many words flow from one place to another, now that social media link people in a much faster and easier way. Thank you for your visits and comments this month.