&gt; so as not to confuse with some multiplication&#x2F;cross-product symbol<p>There really isn&#x27;t much need for the multiplication symbol when we have side-by-side multiplication notation, and if x is a vector then you can underline it to distinguish it from the cross product (or just not name your vectors x). The &quot;two c&#x27;s&quot; x has always looked bad to me and ends up getting confused with α and other things.