When my wife and I took our first trip to California before moving here, we saw a large population of Asian Americans in San Francisco. We had come to western Massachusetts, in part because the state we lived in felt like it was still attached to a round world, and we were looking for the new flat world.
California fit that more modern heterogeneous model of a flat world state.
As we drove to Big Sur, we passed several schools where the crosswalk had the letters “XING” stamped on the road in large white letters.
After seeing them several times, I turned to my wife and said, “Do you see all those” XING “words on crosswalks?”
“Yes, I have,” she replied, “and I’ve been wondering what they mean.”
Now, by nature, and hopefully by upbringing as well, I am not a nasty person prone to making jokes or jokes, put-downs or practical jokes. But for some reason I couldn’t resist. Maybe the devil made me do it …
“Well, ‘XING’ means ‘Be careful’ in Chinese. It tells all Asian American children who can’t speak English well yet that they should be careful when crossing the street.”
“That’s very nice. I knew I liked California, they would never do something like that at home.”
“That’s it,” I told him. “Only in California.”
For the rest of the trip, every time we passed a school and crossed a crosswalk, we sang “XING” in unison (it sounds like Shing, just hold the ending for a few seconds).
Until he finally found out. “XING” was just a shortened version of “CROSSING”, as Xmas is a shortened version of Christmas.
After that trip, whenever one of us faked the other, the phony had the right to say “XING”, as in “Caught you,” to the fakee.
Now what the heck, flat or round, does this have to do with internet copywriting?
Easy…
If you’ve read this far, the story hooked you. And if you were selling “XING” soap or, more likely, a “XING” web marketing scam, you may be on your way to becoming one of the converts.
So here is the lesson and the real meaning of “XING”.
A great or even good storytelling is one of the most powerful and alluring ways a copywriter can take control of your mind. So be careful where you put your brain.
If you let a great copywriter lead you down the garden path, if you indulge in someone’s compelling story, before you know it, you’ll be hitting the “Buy Now” button.
On the other hand, it might be worth paying for the entertainment.
PS: I also bet you won’t forget the new meaning of “XING” for a long time.
PPS I also know that if you try to sing it like I told you, you will probably hear it inside your head the next time you cross a crosswalk marked “XING”.