• twenty-fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, nineteenth consonant
  • phonetic name: "voiceless velar fricative"; place the back of your tongue against your velum release a pop of air while whistling some air between your teeth (n.b.: the sound is the combination of K and S; pronounced "kiss" without the letter i)
  • Phonecian was samekh, a fishbone or tree with branches (Hebrew word means "to prop" or "to support")
  • Egyptian hieroglyph was a small quail
  • adopted by Greeks as xi, pronounced chi (uppercase Ξ, lowercase ξ)
  • Romans often used X and S interchangeably; X is also the Roman numeral for 10
  • X is the least used letter at the beginning of English words; most words that start with X are derived from Ancient Greece (i.e.: xenon means foreign thing, which also correlates with Xs mysterious reputation)
  • X is the most printed one letter symbol
  • has various pronunciations (box, luxury, exact, xylophone, x-ray)
  • in type design, the two stems are often slightly above true centre ("optical centre"); sometimes, the top strokes do not connect perfectly with the bottom strokes
  • generally, X has the same form in both upper and lower case
  • associated with structure, crossing and danger
  • often bridges opposing ideas; can symbolize both life / death, physical / spiritual, break / protect (n.b.: can mean both yes and no)
  • X also oscillates between radiance (moving outward) and a vortex (moving inwards towards a focal point)
  • Latin word for peace, pax, is often symbolized with a monogram of P and X
  • X is consider solid and stable, with its 2 diagonal crossbeams - likened to a stool, chair or bench
  • in mathematics, X stands for multiplication (can also refer to magnification; 10x = 10 times the size)
  • in algebra, X stands for an unknown variable
  • in graphs, the X axis runs horizontally
  • in film, X rated is usually pornographic (XXX)
  • in sizes, X indicates extra (as in XL, XL, XXL)
  • in branding and trademarks, X is often used to attract attention (Xbox, X-Files, QuarkXPress)
  • in biology, women have XX and men have XY sex chromosomes
  • in beer brewing, Xs are used to indicate strength (X= weakest, XXX=strongest)
  • on road signs, X indicates a crossing and a risk of danger
  • on maps, X marks a point, destination or buried treasure (x mark the spot!)
  • on exams, X indicates an incorrect answer
  • in bowling, X is a strike
  • X is used as a visual device to block, cancel or annul
  • X abbreviates Christ in Xmas
  • X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation with a weak wavelength which can pass through matter
  • X-men are mutant superheroes
  • the X shape of a skull and crossbones can represent pirates, or poison
  • there is a superstition that crossing flatware at a table setting is bad luck
  • in elections, X is the valid mark used to indicate your vote on a ballot
  • X's are the basis for cross-stitching
  • X is the legal signature for an illiterate. In the Middle Ages, an illiterate person would sign an X and kiss it as a sign of promise/agreement. Xs became associated with kisses, hence the use of xoxoxo
  • X is slang for the hallucinogenic drug ecstacy
  • Generation X is loosely associated with the first generation of people born after the baby boom (1960-1980)
  • Malcolm X was an African American human rights activist; on his name: "The Muslim's 'X' symbolized the true African family name that he never could know. For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears."
  • Xe is the chemical symbol for xenon (#54 on the periodic table), an odourless, colourless, inert gas which, in a vacuum tube, produces a blue glow when excited by an electrical charge.
  • phonetic sound, ex, can refer to previous lovers/spouses (ex, exes)
  • NATO phonetic alphabet: X-RAY
  • "The sound vibration of the consonant 'X' means 'power, empowered'." - Joseph E. Rael
  • "'X' is crossed swords, a battle; who will win we do not know, so the philosophers made it the sign of destiny and the mathematicians the sign of the unknown." - Victor Hugo
The letter X,
for explicit sex,
for the ghastly formula,
the buried treasure,
the missing number,
the undisclosed measure,
the crossroads,
the crossed heart,
the cross,
the illiterate signature,
the inferior brand name,
the typing over mistakes,
the inebriate’s eyeball
or the fish-market fish’s,
the incorrect answer,
the life-saving stitch,
the whirlybird,
the anonymous grave,
the secret plan,
the forbidden planet,
the unknown man,
the number ten,
multiplication,
shorthand for Christ
and all that’s hidden,
the target the bomb misses,
the poison bottle,
the liquor keg,
the divorced, the former, the past,
and at the last,
at the end of the letter,
written, perhaps unbidden
kisses.

-Mark O’Donnell