What do word origins, optical illusions, or jokes have to do with teak furniture? Nothing, but there’s no need to discuss business all the time. Each Friday I will have an interesting item with little to do with teak or outdoor furniture. I hope you enjoy.

In frontier America, a person unable to write was often required to sign a document. Under such circumstances, in lieu of a name it was legal to sign an “X” on the form.

Often, a party to a contract agreed to it under pressure and didn’t want to observe its terms. Oral lore insisted that when crosses were doubled, one being placed over the other, the first was cancelled or made null. This double-cross was common enough to give its name to any act of deception or betrayal.
Source: “Why You Say It” by Webb Garrison (1992).