About your the wording of your question: Why do English people... ["do" not "does"] Many years ago most English speakers were illiterate (ie., they could not read or write). So when they signed a document, such as a legal document or a letter, they would use an X to represent their signature. The X also had a religious meaning (I don't know what it is). So when they finished signing the document they would kiss the X, the same way they would kiss their holy book to show respect and truthfulness. Years later, the X became a way of showing or sending a kiss to the person who was receiving the letter. Nowadays, in romantic letters, we often use alterating X's and O's (letter O) after we write our signature. For example, XOXOX X = kiss O = hug

Nice background info Richard! You know the background info on the 'O'?

XXX = kisses

'xx' means 'kiss kiss'. Usually, people who feel a kind of love towards eachother use it, like boyfriend/girlfriend, parent/child. Two people who are close friends often use it as well. Generally, it is used to seem more friendly. It doesn't have to be love :) It comes from 'xoxo' which is 'kisses and hugs'.

Dark Panther asked me if I knew the meaning or an explanation of the letter "O" when used as a symbol for kisses and hugs (XOXOX). Thanks for tweaking my interest Dark Panther. So I Googled "the menaing of O in a letter", and what follows is a direct quote from the website: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080214223151AAXPD5W The most common interpretation assumes that X represents the four lips of a kiss and O the four arms of a hug. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary states that X is "used to represent a kiss, esp. in the subscription to a letter.". A less common interpretation assumes X as the crossed arms of a hug and O as the puckered lips of a kiss. Additionally, there is a more simple interpretation, based on the pronunciation of the letters X (sounds like 'kiss') and O (sounds like 'hold', as in 'I hold you').