Ancient lovers believed that a kiss literally unites the soul because the spirit was said to be carried in ones breath.
– Ev Glicksman
I wanted to share this beautiful quote on Ermiliablog. I thought it illustrated the beauty and magic of a kiss. Ironically, a lot of words associated with kissing definitely do not evoke the “magic” that this quote does.
I grew up in a Spanish family so my first word for a kiss was ‘beso’ and then in “plain” English ‘kiss’. Growing up in Australia the slang for the act consisted of making out, hooking up and pashing. When I read Harry Potter I was baffled by what ‘snogging’ meant. It reminded me of two pigs grunting and rolling in the mud. To my dissapointment snogging does mean kissing in British slang. I do not know the slang for kissing in America but I believe they use macking, making out, mashing?, smooching? Maybe sucking face?
All those words or slang terms seem to put a crude edge on the act of kissing. If we were to discuss all the words used to describe sexual intercourse we would come across numerous crude descriptions as well. But along the scale of slang terms also lies ‘making love’.
What do you think is the closest slang term for the emotional act of kissing? Has the English language failed to have one emotional, romantic and “magical” word for a kiss? Do you have any funny ‘kissing’ slang terms to share from your culture or social groups? I am not trying to be offensive, I have nothing against the British and have cousins and friends living there but… is anyone else reminded of two pigs rubbing dirty snouts when they hear the word snogging?
– Ermisenda Alvarez
Ermilia 