Good Question: 'Reply All' To Your V-Day Questions
With Valentine's Day looming, we're answering the Good Questions of WCCO viewers that relate to the romantic Feb. 14.
- "How did XOXO become used in place of Hugs & Kisses?" Liz from Chaska asked.
The earliest appearance of the "x" for kiss is in the late 1700s. Some word scholars believe the practice goes back to the days when illiterates signed their name as "X."
And just like they kissed their Bible, they would kiss their signature. That's how the "X" started creeping into letters as a substitution for the Kiss.
The "O" as a hug is strictly a North American thing. It's supposed to symbolize arms wrapped all the way around someone
- Cologne and perfume are a popular Valentine's Day gifts. So why do we call it toilet water? Eau de toilette?
In French the word "toilette" comes from another French word "toile", which means fabric or cloth.
So originally, "toilette" was a piece of clothing.
Toilet water was never water from the toilet -- it was water meant to cover up body odor by dabbing it on clothes.
- Why do men and women kiss so differently? -- Meghan in Robbinsdale
There's a great deal of research on the science of kissing.
Here's the deal: psychologists have found that men like kisses to be wet and sloppy, women do not.
Women consider a bad kiss to be a deal-breaker while men would still have sex with a bad kisser.
Women use kissing to find a man with the right pheromones - and then the kissing is to increase attachment.
Men use kissing as a means to an end.
