by Elizaveta Butakova
[Suggested Soundtrack: xx by The xx]
X, more so than any other letter in the alphabet, is heavy with symbolic value and refuses any simple reading. It wears its instability on its sleeve: it stands for anonymous, mysterious potential; or crossed-out, refused negation. X, in its many lives and guises, is by turns aloof and confrontational.
The visual form of the letter is simple and symmetrical. Its shape can be found in the Greek and Slavonic alphabets. The X in Xmas stands for Christ and derives from the Greek XPISTOS. The tragic irony of Christ’s fate is summed up neatly in this anonymous everyman’s letter. The X chromosome is common to every human being.
Copyright: Curlsdiva.com
Saint Andrew, also crucified, did not deem himself worthy of a cross in the shape of Christ’s, and in doing so gave his name to the Saltire Cross or Crux Decussata. It is shaped like an X. Saltire Crosses are a common piece of equipment in bondage & discipline/sadism & masochism dungeons. They force the submissive party to stand with their limbs splayed, legs akimbo, arms in the air.
Copyright: Raimond Spekking/Wikipedia
The X position is one we rarely adopt, except during an airport search, or during physical exercise, as it engages every limb and leaves the body vulnerable. Pleasingly, X is one of the most accurate letters in the Body Alphabet, a kinaesthetic activity used to teach children in kindergartens. In American Sign Language, an X is a hooked forefinger. In British Sign Language, X is a cross, formed using both forefingers.
Copyright: Elizaveta Butakova
An X tattoo between the thumb and finger acts as a ‘party dot’, it means you’re a party, a thief, a druggie. It is a general declaration of mal-intent. It has also been adopted as a marker of the ‘straight-edge’ movement, so members can easily identify fellow ‘straight-edgers’. X is a mark of both hedonism (XTC) and its ascetic opposite.
X = 10. Or X=?. X can stand for an unknown value. It was René Descartes who first used x, y, z to represent mathematical values, part of his famous contribution to analytic geometry. The X-axis and the X-coordinate therefore become topographic, describing space. A primitive X marks the spot for buried treasure or on the operating table, the site of a tumour or an ailing organ. X as destination becomes part of a symbolic language of arrows, stop and go. It signals arrival, or bars the way.
Copyright: Elizaveta Butakova
X is wrong, wrong, wrong – the sign of saying no.
X’s and O’s are noughts and crosses in a strategic game, or in the noughties, hugs and kisses.
XXXX is super strong ale, XXX-rated is sexxxy and xxx is sealed with a kiss.
Copyright: Elizaveta Butakova
