To kiss

A to kiss is the contact of the Lèvre S with another thing, usually those of another person or the top of her Main, or its Joue. In many cultures it is a mark of Affection ou/et of Respect.

The French word comes from Latin basium (even direction), word whose origin would be onomatopoeical and who would make it clear the noise which make the lips giving a kiss.

One distinguishes in particular the kisses on the cheek from the kisses in love.

Types of kisses

To kiss on the cheek

In the Western culture , it is generally a sign of affection.

Between people who share a close relation, the kiss is given like a reception or a departure, embracing one the other on the cheek (or close to it in the air, while the cheeks are touched); one speaks then about “north winds”, and their number varies according to the areas:

In the East of France one practices 2 north winds, while generally starting with the right cheek.
in France the Mediterranean, one practices 2 or 3 north winds, while generally starting with the left cheek.
With the Luxembourg (country) one practices 3 north winds.

The familiar ones can kiss children to comfort them or show them affection, and conversely.

One can also give a kiss on the cheek as a sign of family love.

In France, in the south in particular, and in French-speaking Belgium, just like in unquestionable cultures of Eastern Europe or the Middle East, two Homme S can be sometimes embraced as a sign of hello, mainly within the framework of a relationship or a friendship. In much of other countries, the kiss on the cheek is not current, even between two Femme S, or between a man and a woman. For the important moments, the embrace is then replaced by an intense accodance. For the moment more slackened, the practice to be held by the hand, or arm-top-arm-below, can replace this attachment and/or mark of respect (what possibly contrast with the practice of the Western companies where the act to give the hand can be much charged than the act to embrace).

The hand-kissing

The Baisemain is a gesture of Galanterie practiced by the gentlemen to present their homages to a lady. The man puts himself at knees and delicately takes the hand of the lady by approaching it his lips. He would be of use, probably for reasons of hygiene or decency, not to pose his lips on the back of the hand, but only to approach them more close possible.

In the Arab tradition the hand-kissing is used like a sign of respect for oldest.

This practice tends to fall in disuse, in particular in Occident.

To kiss in love

History of the kiss

Prehistory

According to certain sources, french KIS goes back to prehistory. In the beginning, it was not related to sexuality. At that time, the women gave to eat with the babies like the birds: they chewed the meat, then deposited the pulp in the mouth of small. Not only they nourished their children but, thanks to saliva, they transmitted to them also antibodies against the viruses and the diseases.

Antiquity

The kiss of Judas Iscariote with Jesus Christ (to read the Gospel Matthieu, ch.26, 47-50).

The kiss was the sign of recognition of the Christian first between them and pointed out the kiss of peace given during the Messe (see Thessaloniens , 5,26).

In the Bible, Jesus kisses his disciples on the cheek before being killed. This kiss was to say goodbye but also to encourage them for the future.

The Middle Ages

the Christian kiss

During the mass, the priest poses his lips on the furnace bridge, the Gospels or the Crucifix. The pilgrims embraced the relics.

Sign of tender

With the Middle Ages, the faithful ones embraced the feet of the Pape, the ring of the bishop or the hand of their lord. In certain areas, the ceremony of the homage comprised a kiss ( osculum ).

Proverbs and expressions

When one rings with the bell-tower, it is festival in the parish. (proverb French)
slowest of the kisses is still too hasty. (proverb English, Th. Middleton, “has Pure Maid in Cheapside” 1607)
the thick kisses are the messengers of the heart. (Spanish proverb , edulcorated translation)
That your kiss has the heat of the sun, and the pink will give you all his perfume. (Kurdish proverb )
To kiss stolen
To kiss death

Slang and ambiguities

In slang, the Verb to kiss means to have a Sexual relation with penetration. Two attitudes are detached compared to this term: some find it very vulgar, and point an absence of Amour and Respect associated with its use. Others on the contrary adopt this expression while insisting on its value of truth, the physical and carnal connotation being respectful.

To avoid ambiguity, one employs the verb today to embrace in the direction “to give one (or several) to kiss (S)”. In the case of the social kisses on the cheeks, one more and more often says “to give the north wind”.

Anecdotes

Physiology

Two individuals embracing itself exchange on average 40 000 parasite S, 250 types of Bacterium S, 9 Mg of Water, 0,7 G of Albumin, 0,45 salt Mg, 0,711 Mg of grease S, 0,18 G of organic matters and spend four Calorie S per minute. The Heart rate can double.

A kiss on the cheek requires the activation of 12 facial muscles whereas the kiss in love requests 34 of them.

Can one be allergic to the kisses?

Certain unpleasant reactions can be caused by the kisses like a edema of the lips, Urticaire, Prurit, responsible etc is to It the Salive which transmits a food or a drug Allergène to the other. According to researchers of the the University of California (the USA), these reactions are more frequent than it is thought. It can appear in a few seconds and up to six hours after a French KIS or a simple kiss in the neck.

Records

the record of the fastest kiss is held by young Allemande of twenty-seven years, Andrea Suwa, which gave 10002 kisses in five hours.
In 2001, Rich Langley and Louisa Almedovar, of the New Jersey, were embraced during 30 hours and 59 minutes.
In 2005, Radio Energy (Quebec) organized a new attempt at the time of the St. Valentine's day. 3 couples arrived at the end of the 36 hours.
the longest “marathon of kisses” was held in Brazil during 62 days, 8 hours and 15 minutes, for one “duration of kisses” 833 hours and 45 minutes, that is to say approximately 14 hours daily.
on June 25th, 2005, 5875 couples exchanged a kiss on the Elisabeth bridge, with Budapest.

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