43 Fun Facts About kissing

1. “Kiss” is from the Old English cyssan from the proto-Germanic kussijanan or kuss, which is probably based on the sound kissing can make.^e
2. A woman in China partially lost her hearing after her boyfriend reportedly ruptured her eardrum with a passionate kiss. Apparently, the kiss reduced the pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out, and caused the breakdown of the ear.^k
3. The science of kissing is called philematology.^c
4. The insulting slang “kiss my ass” dates back at least to 1705.^e
5. Lips are 100 times more sensitive than the tips of the fingers. Not even genitals have as much sensitivity as lips.
6. Approximately two-thirds of people tip their head to the right when they kiss. Some scholars speculate this preference starts in the womb.^b
7. On July 5-6, 2005 a couple in London locked lips for 31 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds, making it the longest kiss ever recorded.^f
8. The most important muscle in kissing is the orbicularis oris, also known as the kissing muscle, which allows the lips to “pucker.”^b
9. French kissing involves all 34 muscles in the face. A pucker kiss involves only two.^b
10. The lips of both men and women resemble the lips of the vagina.^c
11. The term “French kiss” came into the English language around 1923 as a slur on the French culture which was thought to be overly concerned with sex. In France, it’s called a tongue kiss or soul kiss because if done right, it feels as if two souls are merging. In fact, several ancient cultures thought that mouth-to-mouth kissing mingled two lovers’ souls.ⁱ
12. The Four Vedic Sanskrit texts (1500 B.C.) contain the first mention of a kiss in writing.^c
13. The Romans created three categories of kissing: (1) Osculum, a kiss on the cheek, (2) Basium, a kiss on the lips, and (3) Savolium, a deep kiss.^h
14. Passionate kissing burns 6.4 calories a minute. A Hershey’s kiss contains 26 calories, which takes five minutes of walking–or about four minutes of kissing–to burn off.^c
15. It is possible for a woman to reach an orgasm through kissing.^c
16. Mechanically speaking, kissing is almost identical to suckling. Some scholars speculate that the way a person kisses may reflect whether he or she was breastfed or bottle fed.^c
17. Scientists believe that kissing may be a way of exchanging body salts or sebum that form relationships with parents and lovers, just as it does some birds. During mating, some birds chew food, then kiss-feed it to a prospective mate. If a bird’s sebaceous glands are removed so there is no sebum, its mate flies off.^j
18. Kissing is good for teeth. The anticipation of a kiss increases the flow of saliva to the mouth, giving the teeth a plaque-dispersing bath.^c
19. A medieval manuscript warns Japanese men against deep kissing during the female orgasm because a woman might accidentally bite off part of her lover’s tongue.^c
20. The Kama (desire) Sutra (type of verse) lists over 30 types of kisses, such as “fighting of the tongue.”^c
21. According to one study, many men are more particular about which women they kissed than who they went to bed with, suggesting that kissing is somehow more about love than coitus is.^b
22. Kissing may have originated when mothers orally passed chewed solid food to their infants during weaning. Another theory suggests kissing evolved from prospective mates sniffing each others’ pheromones for biological compatibility.^h
23. Scholars are unsure if kissing is a learned or instinctual behavior. In some cultures in Africa and Asia, kissing does not seem to be practiced.^h
24. Common chimpanzees kiss with open mouths, but not with their tongues. Bonobos, the most intelligent of primates, do kiss with their tongues.^c
25. Leper-kissing became fashionable among medieval ascetics and religious nobility during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was deemed proof of humility.ⁱ
26. During the middle ages, witches' souls were supposed to be initiated into the rites of the Devil by a series of kisses, including kissing the Devil’s anus, which was a parody of kissing the Pope’s foot.^d
27. Pliny asserts that kissing a donkey’s nostril will cure the common cold.^c
28. Kissing at the conclusion of a wedding ceremony can be traced to ancient Roman tradition where a kiss was used to sign contract.ⁱ
29. The first on-screen kiss was shot in 1896 by the Edison Company. Titled The May Irwin-John C. Rice Kiss, the film was 30 seconds long and consisted entirely of a man and a woman kissing close up.^c
30. The first on-screen kiss between two members of the same sex was in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1922 Manslaughter.^c
31. Under the Hays Code (1930-1968), people kissing in American films could no longer be horizontal; at least one had to be sitting or standing, not lying down. In addition, all on-screen married couples slept in twin beds...and if kissing on one of the beds occurred, at least one of the spouses had to have a foot on the floor.