The Definition of a Kiss

“What is a kiss? Why this, as some approve:The sure sweet cement, glue and lime of love.”
ROBERT HERRICK (1591–1674)

KISSING BY THE DICTIONARY

Every dictionary has a slightly different set of definitions for a kiss. Here’s a sampling:

1. To salute with the lips, as a mark of affection,reverence, submission, forgiveness, reconciliation, parting, etc.
2. To touch gently, as if fondly or caressing.
3. To make or give salutation with the lips in token of love, respect, etc.; as, kiss and make friends.
4. To meet; to come in contact; to touch fondly.
5. A small piece of confectionery.
6. A cookie made of egg whites and sugar (a.k.a. a meringue).

That good ol’ British bloke Shakespeare called a kiss a “seal of our love.” Another well-known poetic Brit named Sammy Coleridge described it as “nectar breathing.” All pretty romantic stuff.

“A kiss is something you cannot give without taking and cannot take without giving.”


KISSING SYNONYMS

A thesaurus offers a plethora of ways to describe a good smooch: abandon, accost, address, attouchement, bid good day, bid good morning, blow a kiss, bob, bow, bow to, breath, brush, brush by, buss, caress, come in contact, contact, contingence, curtsy, cutaneous sense, desert, dismiss, disregard, embrace, exchange greetings, feel, feeling, fingertip caress, flick, forsake, give up, glance, graze, greet, greeting, hail, hand-clasp, hand-mindedness, handshake, hello, hit, how-do-you-do, hug, ignore, impinge, impingement, impingence, kiss hands, lambency, lap, lick, lift the hat, light touch, lip, neck, nod, nod to, nudge, osculate, osculation, peck, pull the forelock, relinquish, renounce, repudiate, rub, salutation, salute, say hello, scrape, sense of touch, shake, shake hands, shave, sideswipe, skim, skirt, smack, smacker, smile, smile of recognition, smooch, spoon, squeak by, stroke, sweep, tactile sense, taction, tangency, tap, tentative contact, tentative poke, touch, touch lightly, touch the hat, touch upon, touching, uncover, wave and whisper.

KISSING IDIOMS AND ACRONYMS

The English language also comes complete with colorful idiomatic expressions:

• Kiss of Death
• Kiss Off and Kiss It Off
• Kiss That One Goodbye
• Kiss The Blarney Stone (more on this one later...)
• Kiss and Tell

And we’re all familiar with the K.I.S.S. acronym— Keep It Simple Stupid. The K.I.S.S. rule applies more to business than kissing (one would hope!), e.g., managers who want to keep things simple, easy to use, understand, etc.

Think of K.I.S.S. as kind of a “kissing cousin” to “Less Is More”, i.e., fewer candles are more romantic for mood lighting vs. enough to fill a church (that could be a fire hazard!).

What K.I.S.S. should really stand for is how you want to be kissed:

• Keep It Sweet Sunshine
• Keep It Sexy Sweetie
• Keep It Sizzlin’ Sexy
• Keep It Scandalous Stud
• Keep It Savage Sugar
• Keep It Saucy Sally
• Keep It Sinful Sammy
• Keep It Smooth Seymour
• Keep It Soaring Superstar

KISSING SLANG

• Kiss my grits
• Kissing cousins
• Sealed with a kiss
• Give me some sugar
• Sweet sixteen and never been kissed
• Stealing a kiss
• I kiss the ground you walk on
• Kiss me, you fool
• Shower with kisses