The french-kiss ? Not completely French...
Kissing on the mouth: an old idea.
Roman kiss / Photo chosen by Monsieurdefrance.com : Naples museum
It must be said that, fortunately for our predecessors, the idea of kissing on the mouth, even with the tongue, is not very new. Alexander the Great discovered the practice in India over 2000 years ago. This is not surprising since the Kama Sutra, which comes from the same place, describes a French kiss among more than 529 ways of making love... Among the Romans, the "French kiss" is called the "saevium". It is reserved for sex, rather with prostitutes. "Saevium" gave the word saveur, in French, in other words... The taste.
The kiss of peace between Saint Peter and Saint Paul / painting chosen by monsieurdefrance.com : Alonzo Rodriguez.
Kissing on the mouth is not always sensual : among the Christian religious of the Middle Ages, we kiss on the mouth, the mouth open but without the tongue and it is called "the kiss of peace". But then why French Kiss?
A certain idea of France
The kiss of Rodin : by Auguste RODIN (1882) in the Tuileries garden in Paris. Photo chosen by Monsieurdefrance.com : Shutterstock
It seems that it was the American soldiers, back from the First World War, (others say that they were the first American tourists in the 19th century) who started talking about French kiss to describe the fact of kissing someone on the mouth because they were surprised that the French do it relatively easily, in the street or let's say in public. A fiery kiss that Puritan America reserved for very intimate moments, if at all. Add to that the long-standing reputation of the French for things love and you get the idea that kissing on the mouth is a French idea.
A myriad of French words
The word "French-kiss" entered the dictionary "le petit robert" in 2014, but there are so many other words for it in French. A "galoche," and therefore "galocher" to kiss, we can also speak of a "patin", we also say "rouler une pelle"(roll on a shovel), and no relation to a shovel but rather to sport. To roll is, of course, to make your tongue roll in your partner's mouth, but for the shovel it's quite surprising since it comes from a mixture of "peloter" that is to say to caress a little (the word appears in the XVIIIth century) and "to train" since the players of Paume (the French ancestor of tennis) pelotaient a little, that is to say made some echauffements before launching out in the game... Quebecers, on their side of the ocean, like to "frencher" when they kiss.
A French kiss in Paris .... We wish them love and pleasure! Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com : Shutterstock
A little technique
First of all, not everyone likes it since an American study states that half of the planet does not like kissing with the tongue. Note however that the French kiss has a technical interest since it triggers the hormones of pleasure. Technically, we do not necessarily enter directly into "the heart of the matter". It is a question of making small kisses on the mouth, before inclining, each, the head on the side (not the same one hein!) and to make enter gently its language in the mouth of its partner and to make meet, turn around these two languages. Ah, don't forget to breathe too!
And for the "French fries"?
We explain it all here :
