The humble kiss is something that probably doesn’t cross your mind very much, but isn’t it a bit of a strange phenomenon?
To show someone we love them, we exchange millions of bacteria — doesn’t sound quite right!
But it’s one of the most romantic things we can do with our partners, and it’s even got its own special day!
International Kissing Day is a worldwide celebration of the humble kiss, in all of its many forms.
International Kissing Day is celebrated on Saturday 6th July 2019 across the planet and aims to make us appreciate a kiss in its own right.
No conventions, no social norms, just appreciation of the humble kiss!
So let’s take a look into why we kiss, how to say kiss in almost any language, and some other interesting facts that could come in handy at your next pub quiz!
1) How to Say Kiss in Other Languages
| Language | Translation | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | soen | sun |
| Albanian | puthje | puth-yay |
| Arabic | قبلة (qibla) | kubla |
| Armenian | համբույր (hambuyr) | ham-blu-ther |
| Bangla | চুম্বন | choom-bom |
| Bosnian | poljubac | pom-blu-bacs |
| Catalan | besar | be-zar |
| Chinese | 吻 (Wěn) | wen |
| Croatian | poljubac | pom-blu-bacs |
| Czech | polibek | polibek |
| Danish | kys | kiss |
| Dutch | kus | kuss |
| English | kiss | kiss |
| Esperanto | kiso | key-so |
| Estonian | suudlus | soov-wuss |
| Filipino | halik | hal-ee |
| Finnish | suudella | sue-della |
| French | baiser | bizz-ay |
| German | Kuss | koose |
| Greek | φιλί (filí) | feel-ay |
| Hindi | चुम्मा (chumma) | choo-ma |
| Hungarian | csók | chork |
| Icelandic | koss | koss |
| Indonesian | ciuman | see-you-man |
| Italian | bacio | bacho |
| Japanese | キッス (Kissu) | kiss-sue |
| Khmer | ថើប (thaeb) | towb |
| Korean | 키스 (kiseu) | kis-ser |
| Latvian | skūpsts | scoop-s-tss |
| Macedonian | бакнеж (baknež) | bak-nej |
| Malayalam | ചുംബനം (cumbanaṁ) | chum-bana |
| Marathi | चुंबन (Cumbana) | chum-boy |
| Nepali | चुम्बन गर्नुहोस् (Cumbana garnuhōs) | chum-wan |
| Norwegian | kysse | hyiss-er |
| Polish | pocałunek | pot-owl-nek |
| Portuguese | beijo | bay-jo |
| Romanian | sărut | sa-root |
| Russian | поцелуй (potseluy) | pot-sool |
| Serbian | пољубац (poljubac) | pom-blu-bacs |
| Sinhala | හාදුවක් (hāduvak) | hine-wer |
| Slovak | bozk | bosk |
| Spanish | Beso | beso |
| Sudanese | nyium | neem |
| Swahili | busu | busu |
| Swedish | kyss | kyiss |
| Tamil | முத்தம் (Muttam) | moot-tum |
| Telugu | ముద్దు (Muddu) | mud-doo |
| Thai | จูบ (Cūb) | thoo |
| Turkish | öpmek | opmek |
| Ukrainian | поцілунок (potsilunok) | pot-sil-um-nok |
| Vietnamese | hôn | hon |
| Welsh | cusan | key-san |
Arrange the words by translation or pronunciation to see these similarities more easily.
2) Why Kissing is Good for Your Health
So let’s talk about bacteria.
A kiss actually transfers about 80 million bacteria between two mouths. But contrary to what you might expect, this exchanges is good for you!
That’s because each kiss will introduce new bacteria to your body, strengthening your immune system in the process.
And what’s more, kissing also stimulates your salivary glands, increasing production of saliva and helping to battle tooth decay.
So kissing really is good for your health!
3) The Kiss of Deaf 
But there is a rare instance where a kiss can be extremely bad for your health!
A woman from Zhuhai, China embraced her boyfriend in a passionate kiss which led to her eardrum being ruptured!
According to the hospital consultant Dr Li: “The kiss reduced pressure in the mouth, pulled the eardrum out and caused the breakdown of the ear.”
Fortunately, the woman’s hearing loss was temporary, as the doctor expected it to revert to normal after around two months.
4) Record-Breaking Kisses
The UK record for the longest kiss was set on 6–7 July 2005 — the kiss lasted for 31 hours and 30 minutes!
Meanwhile, the world record was set by Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat on 12–14 February 2013. They kissed for a lip-smacking 58 hours, 35 minutes and 58 seconds.
That’s some kiss!
5) The Reason for the Eskimo Kiss
The Eskimo kiss, where you rub your nose against another person’s, is loosely based on an Inuit greeting called a kunik.
Many people believe the reason for rubbing noses is so that the cold weather doesn’t freeze the two participants mouths together, however in reality, it’s just because people tend to cover their mouths in cold climates like the Arctic.
This tradition is also widely practised in Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Polynesian Islands, and the Maori tribe of New Zealand.
6) The European Greeting Kiss
In many European countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Montenegro, Macedonia and Slovenia, it is customary for people to greet by kissing one another’s cheeks three times alternately, starting with the right cheek.
This can often be a confusing tradition for foreigners, as they don’t know how many times to kiss and which cheek to start on, but keep to the standard above and you should be okay.
7) Unusual USA State Laws on Kissing
Some US states have unique kissing customs.
For instance, kissing one’s wife on a Sunday is considered illegal in Hartford, Connecticut.
For a man with a moustache to “habitually kiss human beings” is considered illegal in Indiana.
And in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it’s a crime to kiss a stranger. That one might actually catch on!
