Published August 28, 2026
How Do You Draw an X? is a viral January 2019 Twitter debate over which of eight possible stroke orders people use when writing the letter X. A single diagram by Philadelphia illustrator Kasey Ehrgott split the internet into numbered camps and pulled coverage from four major news outlets inside 72 hours.
Overview
The meme centers on a hand-drawn chart of eight numbered options, each showing the letter X built from two strokes. A colored line marks the first stroke, and arrows show whether each line moves top-down or bottom-up[1]. Because the two crisscrossing lines can each be drawn in two directions and either can go first, there are exactly eight combinations, and the diagram forces readers to actually think about a motion they usually make on autopilot[4].
Once people picked a number, the format worked like a personality quiz. Users would reply with just a digit, then argue that any other answer was wrong or somehow revealing of character[1]. The debate ran on the claim that stroke choice tracks with geography and handedness, a pattern posts spread through screenshots and quote-tweets[3]. Comparisons to earlier viral splits like the Yanny/Laurel audio clip and The Dress popped up almost immediately in the news coverage[2][1].
Gallery
Origin & Background
On January 19, 2019, Philadelphia artist Kasey Ehrgott, who tweets as @SMASEY and signs work as Sixers Smasey, posted the diagram to Twitter with the caption, 'Also this is so interesting to me, which way do you draw an X? Colored line being the first stroke'[5]. Each of the eight sketches is numbered and uses arrows to mark stroke order and direction, so readers can point to a single digit that matches their own handwriting[4]. Ehrgott drew the graphic herself, and the Daily Mail's Femail section identified her as the Philadelphia artist behind the viral image within days of the post going up[4].
How It Spread
The tweet blew up fast. Within two days it passed 14,000 retweets and 60,000 likes, and by the same weekend Twitter published a Moments page rounding up the argument[5]. On January 20, Ehrgott tweeted a follow-up: 'General consensus is that Americans do 7 & 8 while UK does 5 & 6. Probably how we were taught. Not sure about other countries.' That post picked up more than 900 retweets and 9,900 likes in 24 hours[5].
Mainstream press piled on. Mashable framed the split as the biggest handwriting fight since the 2018 Yanny/Laurel argument, with Senior Editor Shannon Connellan admitting she was 'a seven'[2]. NBC Los Angeles ran the graphic alongside the geography claim and joked that the only correct answer was 7[3]. ABC News interviewed Ehrgott directly, noting that #7 seemed to lead online but #5 and #8 had strong followings, and that Ehrgott herself flipped from 7 to 8 once she wrote out a word containing the letter[1].
The Daily Mail called it a 'mass debate,' quoting readers who insisted 'It's 7' or '8. is the only correct way,' and pointing out that even English speakers who agreed there was one correct method still could not agree on which one it was[4]. Traffic clustered in the roughly seven-day window after the original tweet, then dropped off as the news cycle moved on[1].
How to Use This Meme
The template is about as light as it gets. Reply to the diagram with the number that matches how you draw an X, then defend it. Common formats include just the digit ('7'), a possessive statement ('7 is the only way'), or a mock-outrage variant aimed at another number ('What sort of animal doesn't do 5?')[4]. Some users found the exercise revealed a gap between how they thought they wrote the letter and how they actually did it, so replies often include an 'I thought I was a 7, tested it, I'm actually an 8' beat[1].
Cultural Impact
The story ran in Mashable, NBC, ABC News and the Daily Mail inside 72 hours, all four outlets treating it as a lineage successor to The Dress and Yanny vs Laurel[2][1][4]. ABC placed it in the same list as those earlier arguments plus the 2018 'how would a dog wear pants' debate, arguing that shareable perception splits had turned into a recurring genre of online news story[1]. Ehrgott went from a mid-follower Philadelphia illustrator to giving on-record quotes to ABC within a couple of days of posting the diagram[1].
Fun Facts
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Kasey Ehrgott, who created the diagram, signs her work as Sixers Smasey and is based in Philadelphia[4].
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Ehrgott discovered she draws Xs differently in isolation than when writing a full word, flipping from a 7 to an 8 mid-conversation[1].
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Her follow-up geography tweet claimed Americans favor options 7 and 8 while UK writers favor 5 and 6, guessing it comes from how each country teaches handwriting[3].
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Multiple outlets treated #7 as the leading answer, though #5 and #8 also had strong showings[1].
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ABC News grouped the debate with The Dress, Yanny vs Laurel, and the 2018 'how would a dog wear pants' argument as part of a recurring genre of perception-split news stories[1].
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Draw an X? is a viral January 2019 Twitter debate about which of eight possible stroke orders people use when writing the letter X, sparked by a diagram from illustrator Kasey Ehrgott[2].
The meme started on January 19, 2019, when Twitter user @SMASEY (Kasey Ehrgott) posted a hand-drawn chart of eight numbered stroke combinations[1].
It refers to the argument over the correct stroke order and direction for the letter X, with the diagram showing eight possible ways and users picking their number[3].
Reply to the diagram with the number that matches your handwriting, then argue that any other answer is wrong[4].
It peaked over about a week in late January 2019 and faded soon after, with major coverage concentrated in the days right after the tweet[1].
