Kiss

1 The kiss - what a pleasant, if unlikely, way of showing your affection for someone! And it's not only pleasant but it seems that it's good for your health too. Research carried out by insurance firms has shown that single men have significantly higher blood pressure than their married contemporaries. And a US study suggests that a man is less likely to cause a traffic accident on his way to work if he has been given a goodbye kiss by his wife.

2 But while the language of love may be universal when two people are from the same culture, the act of kissing can mean very different things in different parts of the world. In China, for example, kissing someone in public is seen as unhygienic and repulsive. As for offering your lips to someone in India, he or she might not just jump back but call the police, since kissing is only done between couples in private. Not surprisingly, Indian film stars are forbidden to kiss on screen.

3 Even if your intentions aren't amorous, you can still run into trouble. Many foreigners have got it wrong when greeting a friend who is Dutch (compulsory three kisses) or French (two, three or four, depending which part of France you are in). The Inuit of Alaska wouldn't dream of doing anything more than rubbing noses - Inuit women tend to use their mouths for more everyday tasks such as cleaning oil lamps and chewing animal skins to soften them up.

4 Animals, on the whole, have a much broader interpretation of kissing's significance than humans. For example, many creatures put their mouths in those of others as a gesture not of affection, but of submission. A wolf will place his mouth inside the jaws of a larger, dominant male. Chimpanzees do the same thing with their superiors. But when they relate to their contemporaries and equals, lip-to-lip contact is intended as a sign of play and friendship.

5 Indeed the expression of affection comes in many different forms in the animal world. Giraffes rub necks, while birds entwine theirs. Cats press their noses together and purr loudly, while elephants stand apart and then gently place their trunks in each other's mouths.

6 The one thing that animals never do, however - and humans, to their discredit, do all too frequently - is to deceive with their kisses. In the case of Judas Iscariot kissing Christ, for instance, or a Mafia godfather kissing a traitor, the act of placing one's lips upon someone else's cheek is to give the kiss of death.

7 The kiss, therefore, is not a simple matter. We receive a wide variety in our daily life: from friends, from lovers, from children, from parents, from enemies, even from team-mates after a goal is scored. If in a 70-year life we were kissed just once a day, it would mean that during our time on earth we could expect to receive a total of around 25,000 kisses. And each one of these carries a different and complex message that has to be received, processed and analysed with care.
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