Kissing! That truest form of expression of love, made passionate and charming by an inter-lock of the caressing lips. Wow, life suddenly sounds all the more fun and interesting with just the mention of the word kissing.
Word is out that kissing may hold many secret benefits and weirdly interesting facts that you may not have known. It’s an attraction, an obsession, for some- a bit of liking that leads to newfound fondness for someone and then the inevitable; kissing.
While it has been likened to the world’s favorite ‘exercise’ and one guilt-free and perhaps laden with the most amount of happiness, kissing actually seems to have some benefits that are important to note. So there we go:
1. A couple have actually held the record for world’s longest kiss
You would be surprised to note just how long this particular record-breaking kiss lasted? It was actually between a Thai couple, Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat and lasted for 58 hours. Can you believe it? Some stamina there, right?
2. Kissing actually requires more effort than expected or known
It actually is a strenuous activity and requires quite a bit of physical exertion. Researchers have revealed that kissing requires the power of 146 muscles to coordinate in order to have the perfect lip-lock. After all, whosoever said good things come to those who put in best effort wasn’t wrong.
3. Okay, this one will freak you out. Do you know how our penchant for kissing originated?
Research has the word that as many as 75-125 million years back, there was a mice kind of creature that was known to rub its nose with its partner in order to signal desire or simply, fire up pheromones. And this creature, known as Eomaia Scansoria inspired the human behavior. So basically, kissing is ‘rodent behavior’. Wonder why we hate mice?
4. The history of the phrase ‘XOXO’
You may have encountered this sign every now and again, in social media posts, emails by a loved one or as a sign-off in an SMS from a dear one. XOXO which means love and kisses was actually a mark of sincerity used in the Middle Ages. Those who couldn’t read or write would mark documents with an ‘X’ as a signature and then kissed it to leave a gesture of sincerity.
5. Some idiot once thought of banning kissing
How cruel could this be? How stupid on earth could this act have been? The cruelty personified figure was King Henry VI who banned kissing in England. The king had thought that by banning kissing he would curtail outspread of a disease. Little wonder then that the same king suffered from a mental breakdown in his life in his later years.
6. Do you know what the science of kissing is?
Yes, there is a medical or clinical phrase for the science of kissing. It is called Philematology. And people actually make a career out of it, by spending years studying and researching kissing and the art of it.
7. How much time does an average person spend kissing
It has been found that an average person spends 20, 160 minutes of his or her lifetime kissing. This is about 2 weeks of a person’s life. Now, is that too much. Or too less to be content about? Let subjectivity define this one.