Word: kissinge
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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In one form or another, kissing has been prevalent since primitive times, but has developed mostly in the West. Among the Greeks and Romans, parents kissed their children, lovers and married persons kissed each other, and so did friends of the same or different sexes. Martial complains in one of...
The French, who have had some practice, have turned kissing into a fine social art, although even they are not always sure when or how to do it. The French double kiss is routine, whether on the occasion of being accepted into the Académie Française or...
Kissing or not kissing can be genetic, but not entirely so. Even the somewhat prim Swiss have begun to kiss socially. Italians are enthusiastic kissers and have been for generations; the same is true of Slavs. Arab men greet one another with kisses, as do Arab women. The British remain...
Why is there now such an outbreak of kissing as a social gesture? According to Sociologist Murray Davis, of the University of California at San Diego, "Increased kissing is part of the general inflation of intimate signals. We kiss people we used to hug, hug people we used to shake...
Social kissing takes much of its inspiration from show business, where for years an oscular promiscuity has prevailed. Kissing appeals to show people in part because it is inherently more theatrical than, say, handshaking or nodding. Kisses can be invested with any emotion from the most fervid passion to a...