A friendly way to sign off a letter in Sweden is to write ‘kram’. Kram is a word than means hug. When I moved to the UK I was introduced to the ‘x’. I had no clue what it really meant, so when my dear female coursemates were texting me and finished texts with various amounts of ‘x’ – I responded in the same manner. Later I realised it probably was not the most manly way to deal with it.
One day I asked my course mate Jenny what the X really meant.
Me: You know when you finish a text; you sometimes put an X at the end. Why’s that?
Jenny: It’s a kiss.
Me: Oh…
Then I remember an awkward moment of silence, before we changed conversation topic. I do not really know what kind of answer I expected. And being an internet veteran – online since 1997 (oh yeah!) – I cannot understand how I had failed to spot this before.
I probably should also explain that in northern Sweden it is not customary to give friends a kiss on the cheek when you meet. The aforementioned hug is a more common way to greet a friend. This implies that a kiss - unless referred to a kiss on the cheek - is a kiss is on the mouth.
Oh, and the first times I was introduced to the Mediterranean-style ‘one kiss on each cheek’ concept I nearly headbutted the poor girl in confusion…
Today Simon has:
Listened to nothing
Read nothing
Noticed the rain
