Want to know what a kiss reveals? A new book, 'Kisstory' tells the history of kissing and reveals that not all smooches are romantic
For instance, in Naples in 1562 kissing publicly was punishable by death.
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The word "kiss" comes from the Germanic word kussjan, probably because of the sounds it makes.
In a lifetime the average person spends around 336 hours kissing - equivalent to a fortnight-long snog, reports a major newspaper.
What we term a French kiss is known as an English kiss in India.
As kisses weren't shown in Indian cinema for many years, the first open-mouthed smooch they saw was in a little-known English-language film in 1926.
Meanwhile the French describe tongue kissing as "rouler une pelle" - "to roll a shovel" - or "rouler un patin" - "to skate".
The 2005 film Brokeback Mountain drew a lot of attention for depicting a sexual relationship between men, but the first all-male kiss in a film came almost 80 years earlier, in the 1927 movie Wings.
However the first openly gay big-screen kiss came even earlier - as the 1922 movie Manslaughter included two lesbians snogging.
The most kisses seen in a film was 191 - Don Juan, in 1926 - while the longest-ever kiss lasted a breathtaking (and strength-sapping) 31 hours and 30 minutes.
In 1990 Alfred Wolfram kissed 8,001 people in eight hours during a festival in Minnesota - an average of 16 people per minute.
But kissers should beware as a single snog can contain up to 278 types of bacteria, some of which may carry diseases, while a passionate peck can raise hormone levels enough to shorten your life by a full minute.
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