The X Factor

If any letter in the English language has the X Factor then it is X. It is used in all sorts of ways and can even be pronounced differently. It can be used on its own or as part of a word or even as part of mathematical equations.

For some reason when I saw the X in the subject my mind went back a few years to a girlfriend (let’s call her Ms X) who used to end her messages with xxxx or xxx or xx or x. No x meant I was in trouble.

But why would she have used the symbol as a kiss anyway? Well that goes back to the times when literacy was low and people who couldn’t write would sign documents with an ‘X’ instead of their name. When people signed with an X it wasn’t merely a mark; it was a symbol that carried the weight of an oath. To make it even more significant some people would kiss the X.

I suppose that the use of an X in a voting booth in an election follows on from that.

There doesn’t seem to be any agreement between linguists about when that oath was transferred to being a romantic gesture but my favourite dates back to 1878 when in Florence Montgomery's novel Seaforth, she describes letters ending with “the inevitable row of kisses; sometimes expressed by x x x x x, and sometimes by o o o o o.”

One explanation I came across several times is that X could simply be the shape of the letter — that it looks like a pair of puckered lips. I’m not going with that one.

Talking about old books reminds me (with great affection) of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Where can they find the gold? Where X marks the spot on the map left by Captain Billy Bones.

Luckily, as far as I know, there has never been an X rated film of Treasure Island.

If I’m wrong about that fact then please feel free to use an X (in red ink) to indicate my error.

I still remember the feeling in one particular problem, but not the question or answer, way back when I was a student and spending ages over solving the equation and the response from the Lecturer being a big red cross through it.

Whatever the problem was it would have included something like this:
2x - 5 = 17 or 2 x 4 = 8.
On graphs, the x-axis is the horizontal line on the bottom, while the y-axis is the vertical line on the left side.

One of the weirdest uses of X also relates to mathematics in a way and that is when the Romans used X as one of their numerals. Try thinking about CXVI times XXXII.

I mentioned that X is pronounced differently depending on its position in a word. Normally, it sounds like ks, like in ‘fox,’ ‘complex’ or ‘experience’. However, there are some words that begin with X, and in these cases it's pronounced like a Z as in xenon or xylophone.

Then, of course, there is the use of the X Factor in relation to that certain something that a person, place or thing has that separates them from the norm. 

Some of the above information is from the Engoo website.

The X Factor

you’ve got it
or you haven’t

I had it
for a couple of hours
on the 3rd June
1996

unfortunately
no one was there
to notice

Terry Quinn, his mark..

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Charm - In Search of Charm

‘In Search of Charm’ by Mary Young. This book should have been returned to Palatine Secondary School library in 1970. Oops, my mistake, but now that I’ve dug it out from one of my many bookcases, I think I’ll read it again and see how the world has changed fifty odd years on. At school, we were encouraged to walk properly upright, shoulders back, no slouching. Deportment included doing this carrying a book on our heads. This was the sort of thing covered in the book. I remember learning the correct way to open and close a door when entering or exiting a room. I also remember that it was considered acceptable to smoke on a train, but not on a bus, and certainly not outside on the street. This was all aimed at girls becoming ladies. I’ve no idea what the boys did, if anything. They continued to charge about like apes.

I was an impressionable fifteen year old in 1970. I idolised Twiggy, though all I had in common with her was incredibly skinny legs and an eye for fashion. I didn’t have her gorgeous face, still don’t. I was a young lady, behaving mostly in a lady-like manner. I loved my trips to stay with family in London which would always include a visit to Carnaby Street where I would look for something delicate and floaty to wear. And beads, they were my signature accessory.

It’s obvious to me now, as a mature, hopefully lady-like woman, that I grew up in a time when girls were being trained, if that’s the right description, to become good wives. My aunt told me that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. I get by, but I’m not the Cordon Bleu that she once was. Luckily, I married a man who is an excellent cook and perfectly capable of making a delicious meal. Presenting ourselves as easy on the eye by looking nicely groomed was important, too. Um, for self-esteem, first.

A friend of my mother’s had a fascinating charm bracelet that gave me such joy to look at. It was gold and stuffed with many charms. Something had a folded ten-shilling note inside, something else a pound note. I’d never remember it all, but I loved looking at it and finding things I’d previously missed. It must have been worth a small fortune and it must have been really heavy. Just something that has stuck in my memory.

I expect that re-reading ‘In Search of Charm’ will fill me with horror. Women are equal. We can come out of the kitchen. I had my own mortgage when I was single.

I chose this poem because I liked it.  

The Charm

Thrice toss these oaken ashes in the air,
Thrice sit thou mute in this enchanted chair,
Then thrice three times tie up this true love’s knot,
And murmur soft ‘She will, or she will not.’
Go burn these pois’nous weeds in yon blue fire,
These screech-owl’s feathers and this prickling briar,
This cypress gathered at a dead man’s grave,
That all my fears and cares an end may have.
Then come, you fairies! Dance with me a round;
Melt her hard heart with your melodious sound.
In vain are all the charms I can devise:
She hath an art to break them with her eyes.

Thomas Campion (1567 – 1620)

Thanks for reading, Pam x

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Magpies - One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

One for sorrow, two for joy. There they are again, on the fence, eyeing up the bird-feeders, the cheeky pair. They were going for it the other day, standing on the top of the frame from where they were able to peck at the fat-balls then stretching to the seed holders to steal from them. Stealing it is, because those feeders are for sparrows. By the time I’ve stood up from my chair, they’ve flown home to next door’s tree.

Over the weekend I was tidying the back garden and making space to plant some winter flowering pansies. For once it was quiet. Usually there’s someone nearby with a lawn-mower or strimmer, or noisy DIY going on and there’s always sirens. We are close to the hospital, the M55, the main police headquarters and a fire station. The sirens are really annoying but not as irritating as the sound of the magpies. The afternoon was pleasantly warm and the air was still. I wanted to do as much as I could before my knees and upper legs surrendered. Soon the magpies kicked off with loud, rattly chak chak chakking. It’s a horrible noise and I think they do it on purpose when they see me come outside. I did what I needed to do as quickly as I could. Next door’s tree is a well-established sycamore and I’m sure it is a housing estate for a massive conventicle of magpies or at least the overspill from the trees around nearby Lawson’s Field.

Magpies have an attractive plumage of black and white with a wide stripe of navy blue which is beautifully vibrant in sunlight. They are predators of bird’s eggs and nestlings which they will kill to feed their young. Nice looking but nasty creatures which also carry superstition. I don’t like to see just one on its own and have to mutter “Good day, Mr Magpie” and hope for another to show up. Apparently, in China they are thought to bring good luck.

In my early teens I used to enjoy ‘Magpie’, the TV show. I’ve read that it was a rival to Blue Peter. I don’t remember it being anything like Blue Peter. I found it entertaining and informative aimed at slightly older kids, which is probably what appealed to me. And it had the rhyme we all know for a signature tune. Join in.

One for sorrow
Two for joy,
Three for a girl
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird
You must not miss.
Magpie.

Thanks for reading, Pam x

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