Kissing - one of man's better inventions
What's in this kiss?
A promise of a lifetime of love !!!!
It has been said that the origin of the word 'kiss' is uncertain but might just come from the Old English word cyssan. It is also very similar to the Saxon word kussian and kyssa in the Viking language. In all these languages, however; the word most likely evolved from an imitation of the sound of a kiss - an onomatopoeic word like 'splash', 'hiss', 'mumble' etc.
My parents symbolic kiss is a sign of deep respect and trust. OVer historic time kissing was extended to sealing a commercial bargain, and extended further to seal a marriage contract. I have discovered that the Russians are credited with inventing the 'wedding kiss' because the Russian nobility just loved to copy the exotic French customs, who in turn had copied many things from the Romans. And it was the Romans who merged the sexual and bargaining symbols together. The result is now the universal custom of a kiss at the end of a wedding ceremony.
