You’ll Enjoy These Exciting Kissing Facts
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Without a doubt, sharing a kiss is the most fundamental way to engage with your partner and express the giddy feeling of butterflies they give you. Of course, it’s so common that we don’t even notice when we do or see it.
But, like anything else, there’s more to kissing than meets the eye, such as its health benefits, etymological roots, and kissing science.
Continue reading to learn about many people’s favorite pastime: kissing!
#1. When we kiss, we usually lean to the right
While your reaction to kissing appears to be natural, our kissing style can be traced back to when we were still in our mother’s womb! When most people kiss, they will tilt their heads to the right. This may appear to be a learned behavior, but it has a much longer history.
According to one theory, we lean to the right because we naturally tilted our heads to the right while in the womb. When you lean in for a kiss, remember that two-thirds of people will lean to the right, with the occasional left-tilter, so watch out for head bumps!
#2. Kissing activates 146 muscles
One kiss requires the cooperation of 146 muscles. You might think that the majority of those are in your face, but 112 of them are postural muscles, with the remaining 34 being various facial muscles.
Even so, the muscle used the most in a kiss is, of course, the orbicularis oris, which is located around your mouth. How did researchers discover such information? They observed couples kissing beneath an MRI scanner. Consider the following experiment:
#3. Kissing with the letter “X” dates back to the Middle Ages
If you want to be cute and sign a love letter to your significant other with “XOXO,” which everyone knows means “hugs and kisses,” you can. We take it for granted, but no one ever questions the origins of this unusual signature.
Many people in the Middle Ages couldn’t read or write. Unfortunately, the majority of peasants were illiterate. If they had to sign a document, they would substitute “X” for their signature and then kiss the document as a symbol of honesty.
#4. The world’s longest kiss lasted more than 58 hours
The longest-lasting kiss has a Guinness World Record, and it’s insanely long! Thai couple Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat kissed nonstop for 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds. If that isn’t a love symbol, I don’t know what is!
To put this feat into perspective, the average person spends two weeks of their life kissing — a total of 20,160 minutes. I’m sure this record-breaking Thai couple kissed for an even longer period of time!
#5. The phrase “Kiss of the Irish” originated in Blarney Castle, Ireland
Every Saint Patrick’s Day, we hear this phrase and see it on t-shirts, but where does it come from? Blarney Castle, located in Ireland, is home to the world-famous Blarney Stone. According to legend, when a man named Cormac Laidir needed to go to court for a lawsuit, he sought the assistance of an Irish goddess.
He won his case because she told him to kiss the first rock he saw on his way. Cormac took the stone and placed it on the parapet of his castle because he thought it was a lucky stone.
According to folklore, bending over backward to kiss the stone bestows the gift of eloquence and flattery. Kissing the stone used to be a legitimate life risk because you do so on top of the castle with no safety net to keep you from falling off the edge.
There is now a safety barrier, but be careful if you are afraid of heights!
#6. Kissing can introduce up to 80 million new bacteria
When you lock your lips, your mouth produces more saliva, which aids in cleaning and preventing tooth decay!
However, keep in mind that a single kiss can spread up to 80 million new bacteria, which may put you off if you’re a germophobe. Rest assured, research indicates that this bacteria swapping and sharing microbes is beneficial to your health and strengthens your immune system.
Concerned about your skin tone? Kissing can also help to reduce dermatitis and blemishes on the skin.
#7. Philematology is the study of kissing
You can pursue a career in kissing if you want to! Kissing research is known as philematology, and kissing researchers are known as osculologists. That’s quite a mouthful!
If you choose to pursue this research, you’ll learn more about how many calories a kiss burns (3 per minute) and how lips are like snowflakes in that no two lip impressions are the same!
#8. Kissing is frequently depicted in films
There have been several watershed moments in the history of on-screen kissing. In 1916, D.W. Griffith’s silent film “Intolerance” featured the first same-sex kiss in cinema.
Not long after, in 1926, “Don Juan,” the film with the most kisses between two people, was released. 127 kisses between John Barrymore and Mary Astor!
Soon after, Hollywood began to regulate on-screen passion. Two people kissing on screen had to follow a set of rules under the “Hays Code,” which was in effect from 1930 to 1968.
On-screen married couples were required to sleep in separate twin beds, and if the couple kissed in bed, at least one spouse had to have one foot on the ground. The first interracial on-screen kiss didn’t occur until the 1950’s on the popular American sitcom “I Love Lucy”.
Of course, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married in real life, so it may have come as less of a surprise.
#9. Philemaphobia is a fear of kissing
Are you afraid of your first kiss? It is natural for many people to be nervous at first. However, there is a phobia for almost everything, and kissing is no exception.
Kissing phobia is officially known as philemaphobia, which makes sense given that “philema” is the Greek word for kissing. Of course, this can happen to lovers of all ages, not just young people. It may not always get better unless you seek therapy!
Which of these facts piqued your interest the most? Next time you kiss your significant other, know that you’re doing both of you a favor by improving your health and burning calories!
