Peck. Make out. Lock lips. There are lots of ways of saying kiss. On this International Kissing Day, we’re exploring just some of those ways and where the words come from.

The oldest kiss word in the book

At least as far we can tell. To kiss meaning to touch with the lips as a sign of reverence, respect, admiration, or as a greeting is from circa 900, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Doing so mutually between two people is from 1330. The word comes from the Old English cyssan, “to touch with the lips.”

Technically speaking

The 16th and 17th centuries saw some perfectly scientific words for this romantic action. There’s exosculate (1570) meaning “to kiss heartily,” deosculate (1623), “to kiss affectionately,” and plain old osculate (1656), meaning simply “to kiss.” All three come from osculum, Latin for “a kiss; pretty mouth, sweet mouth.”

French kissing

French kiss began a kiss on both cheeks, “typically as a greeting,” says the OED. That sense is from about 1836 while the modern, tongue-wagging meaning is from the early 1920s. It first appeared in the 1922 book Indelible by journalist Eliot Paul: “She showed me the French kiss where you stick your tongue out, but I didn’t like it.” Soul kiss might be French kiss‘s 1877 predecessor.

The sound of four lips kissing

The earliest onomatopoeia we could find for kiss is buss from 1566. The OED describes this kind of liplock as “a loud and vigorous one.” The 16th century also gives us smack (1570) and smouch (1578). It’s not until 1932 and 1942 that we get the variations of smouch and smack, respectively, smooch and smackeroo. 

Catching air kisses

The phrase, to blow a kiss, originated in the early 17th century, according to the OED, while air kiss — a kiss during which cheeks might touch but lips do not — has been around since at least the 1880s. From a Nov. 19, 1887 article in the Chicago Tribune: “The minister’s wife … knows where a kiss will do the least harm, and her favorite method is an air kiss, with the gentle pressure of her cheek to your cheek.”

Mwah, an exaggerated smack given on the cheek or an air kiss, is from the 1960s. The OED’s earliest citation is from the 1996 book, How Sweet It Was by Arthur Shulman and Roger Youman: “She performed with infectious enthusiasm and an unfailing smile, ending every show with a ‘Mwah!’—a kiss thrown to the audience.” Mwah-mwah was first seen in print in an Oct. 16, 1993 issue of The Times: “Everybody will have to kiss everybody every time they meet and half one’s day will be spent mwah-mwahing through a plump, wan sea of proferred cheeks.”

Euphemisms (sort of)

Baseball term first base was first used in the figurative sense of the first step toward success around 1892, says the OED, especially in the phrase “get to first base.” The kissing sense is from around the same time with the OED’s earliest citation from 1897: “I next tried to steal a kiss, but slipped and fell before I got to first base.”

Give me some sugar! you might have heard starting in the early 1920s, especially in the south, says the OED, meaning “give me a kiss.” If someone asks you to watch the submarine races, they’re not asking you to attend an aquatic competition. They’d like to “engage in amorous activity (esp. kissing and caressing), usually in a parked car overlooking a body of water,” says the OED, the earliest citation of which is 1950.

Tonsil hockey might be the least euphemistic of kissing euphemisms. According to the OED, it originated as mid-1980s college slang.

One thing leads to another

While necking might make you think of 1950s teenagers in cars, the term goes back to 1825, says the OED. First it meant to hug someone around the neck before it came to mean “to caress and kiss amorously.”

Petting is from 1920 with the OED’s earliest citation from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Parking is from 1922. Snogging is from 1945 with an unknown origin. The OED compares it to snug meaning to nestle or snuggle while the Online Etymology Dictionary says it might have originated in British India.

Pash is the newest word we could find related to kissing. An earlier noun sense meaning a crush or passionate infatuation (with the word being a shortening of passion) is from 1891, says the OED, while the adjective form meaning passionate or physically attractive is from 1920, again thanks to F. Scott Fitzgerald. The OED says that pash meaning to kiss or “engage in amorous play” with is Australian and New Zealand slang. Its earliest citation is from Alan Duff’s 1990 novel, Once Were Warriors: “She had her arms up and he walked over to her and they started pashing.”

Check out this list for even more kissing words and phrases.

Crash! Boom! Pow! It’s that time of year again (much to the consternation of pets and phonophobes everywhere). However you might feel about the noise of pyrotechnics, you might still enjoy the language behind them. Ooh and aah at this brief history of firework words and names.

The birth of firework

While it’s believed that fireworks were invented in China back in the year 800 A.D., the word firework referring to the bright and noisy display we know today didn’t appear in the English language until 1580, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). 

Earlier and now obsolete definitions include a “combustible or explosive substance for use in war” (1528) and “work or activity involving fire” (1560). A later military slang sense (1916) from World Wars I and II is “the lights and sounds of shells, flares, anti-aircraft fire, etc., esp. when occurring at night.”

Another word for fireworks, pyrotechnics, is from 1729 (its root, pyrotechnic meaning “of or pertaining to fire,” is from 1704). As for the word firecracker, while it became popular in the U.S. in the early 19th century, again as per the OED, it first appeared in English way back in 1650 in a book by philosopher Henry More called Observations upon Anthroposophia theomagica, and Anima magica abscondita by Alazonamastix Philalethes: “The word σκιρτηδòν… seemes to allude to … fire-crackers and squibs rather then Cannons or Carbines.”

“You disgusting little Squib!”

In addition to being a non-magical person born into a magical family, a squib is a defective firecracker “that burns but does not explode.” The OED’s definition is slightly different — a “common species of firework, in which the burning of the composition is usually terminated by a slight explosion” — with its earliest citation from 1534. The dictionary also says the word might be imitative of the sound such a firecracker might make. A damp squib is something that disappoints or fails to meet expectations.

Fizgig (in addition to being everyone’s favorite Dark Crystal sidekick) as well as fluff-gib seem to be other names for the unbroken sense of squib.

Take these fireworks for a spin

A girandole or girandola is a kind of spiraling firework. The word comes from the Italian girandola, a diminutive of giranda, “a revolving jet,” which ultimately comes from the Latin gyrare, “to turn round in a circle, revolve.” It also refers to a fancy candlestick holder.

The tourbillion is another spinning firework, specifically a “skyrocket with a spiral flight.” The word comes from the French tourbillon, says the OED, which means “whirlwind.” The English term might also refer to a whirlwind or vortex.

The catharine-wheel or Catherine wheel is a type of pinwheel firework. Rather than shoot up into the sky, it remains stationary and spins. The name seems to come from the heraldry meaning of “a wheel with sharp hooks projecting from the tire, supposed to represent the wheel upon which St. Catharine suffered martyrdom.”

When in Rome or Bengal

A Roman candle is a cylinder-shaped firework that, when shot up into the sky, throws off sparks and fire balls. It’s unclear where the name comes from although the OED says it was “perhaps originally with reference to the transmission of the firework technique from China to Europe via the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.” Roman candle is also a derogatory term for someone who is Roman Catholic as well as slang for a parachute descent during which the parachute fails to open.

The Bengal light emits a steady and vibrant glow of blue, and is often used for signals. The name originated in the 18th century and might come from the Bengali region of South Asia, where one of the firework’s chief ingredients, saltpetre, came from at the time. 

Noisy names

One of our favorite noisily named fireworks is the whizbang, which makes a whizzing name before making a bang or exploding. This name originated around 1881, says the OED, while during World War I, it gained the meaning of a small artillery shell.

A petard is more commonly a small bomb but is also a small, loud firecracker. The name might come from an Old French word meaning to fart. The peeoy is a firecracker of the homegrown variety: a small pyramid of damp gunpowder lit on top. Also called the spitting-devil, the word is Scottish and imitative in origin. Who knew a lit mound of gunpowder made a sound like peeoy? 

Want even more firework words? Check out these lists!

It’s Presidents Day, and we here at Wordnik are celebrating by taking a look at some presidential words. Some are coinages, others were merely popularized, and at least one has been misattributed. Cue “Hail to the Chief” as you explore these 11 words from U.S. presidents.

administration

“In reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error.”

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

While the word administration was in use for hundreds of years before Washington’s, his was the first to refer specifically to a “U.S. president’s period in office,” says the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Another Washingtonian coinage is Brother Jonathan, “a humorous designation for the people of the United States collectively.” The term is supposed to have come from the way the first president addressed one of his trusted advisors, Jonathan Trumbull.

neologize

“Necessity obliges us to neologize.”

Thomas Jefferson, Correspondence, August 16, 1813

Of course neologize, to coin or use new words, is one of our favorite presidential neologisms. Like Wordnik founder Erin McKean, Jefferson was in favor of making up new words, including belittle, odometer, Anglophobia, and one isolated use of public relations.

OK

“The Democratic O.K. Club are hereby ordered to meet at the House of Jacob Colvin.”

Democratic Republican New Era, March 23, 1840

The word OK can thank Martin Van Buren, at least in part, for its popularity. The affirmation began as part of 1839 “slang fad” in Boston and New York, says the Online Etymology Dictionary, and an abbreviation of oll korrect, a deliberate misspelling of “all correct.”

Around the same time, says Mental Floss, “OK merged with Martin van Buren’s nickname, Old Kinderhook,” and later gained negative meanings such as “out of kash” and “out of karacter.” However, what might have given OK the long-term OK was the telegraph, for which OK became a handy way to acknowledge transmissions.

bully pulpit

“He had finished a paragraph of a distinctly character, when he suddenly stopped, swung round in his swivel chair, and said: ‘I suppose my critics will call that preaching but I have got such a bully pulpit!’”

Lyman Abbott, “A Review of President Roosevelt’s Administration,” The Outlook, February 27, 1909

The phrase bully pulpit, “an advantageous position, as for making one’s views known or rallying support,” is attributed second hand to Theodore Roosevelt. As World Wide Words points out, bully here may not refer to the modern sense of being pushed around or harassed, but to an older meaning of “excellent” or “splendid.”

Another term coined by Roosevelt is lunatic fringe, the fanatical or extremist members of a group or society. He also popularized muckraker, “one who inquires into and publishes scandal and allegations of corruption among political and business leaders.”

We can’t forget the teddy bear which was named for the 28th president, who, famous as a big-game hunter and conservationist, inspired a cartoon with two bears named Teddy. German toy dealers smelled an opportunity and created a line of “Roosevelt bears” to export to the U.S.

normalcy

“America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration.”

Warren G. Harding, Address before Home Market Club at Boston, Massachusetts, May 14, 1920

Like bloviate — a word Harding used to describe his own “long-winded speaking style,” normalcy was a word that Harding popularized rather than coined, according to Visual Thesaurus. However, Harding is credited with creating the term founding fathers.

iffy

“Very ‘iffy’, Mr. Roosevelt might characterize such talk.”

World This Week, May 9, 1937

Like bully pulpit, iffy is attributed by word of mouth: FDR is said to have been the first to use the word to describe uncertainty or doubt about a situation.

domino theory

“Eisenhower’s speech invoked what would be known as the ‘domino theory’ — the notion a communist takeover in Indochina would lead other Asian nations to follow suit.”

Andrew Glass, “Eisenhower invokes the domino theory, Aug. 4, 1953,” Politico, August 4, 2015

The domino theory, the idea that once one nation becomes Communist, neighboring ones will also fall, like dominoes, under Communist control, comes from Eisenhower’s 1953 speech: “You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle.”

welfare queen

“Linda Taylor, the 47-year-old ‘welfare queen’, was being held in jail in Tucson, Ariz., Friday at the request of Chicago police in lieu of a $100,000 bond.”

George Bliss, “‘Welfare queen’ jailed in Tucson,” The Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1974

Welfare queen, referring to a woman who appears to live in luxury while defrauding the welfare system, is often associated with Ronald Reagan. However, he never actually used the term, and its attribution actually goes to George Bliss of The Chicago Tribune.

voodoo economics

“Bush warned a friendly crowd of students not to be deceived by Reagan’s ‘voodoo economics’.”

Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11, 1980

Voodoo economics is a derogatory term for unrealistic or ill-advised economic policies, as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) puts it. It was coined by the first president Bush, George H.W., in 1980, prior to becoming the Gipper’s running mate: “Bush warned a friendly crowd of students not to be deceived by Reagan’s ‘voodoo economics’.”

axis of evil

“States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.”

George W. Bush, State of the Union, January 29, 2002

Axis of evil, referring to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, is probably one of the most well-known Dubya-isms. The term was coined by his speechwriter at the time, David Frum, who has said that he saw similarities between this axis of evil and the WWII Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

President Bush is also known for what some consider linguistic gaffes, such as misunderestimate, embetterment, and nucular for “nuclear.” While misunderestimate is a conflation of misunderstand and underestimate, according to the OED, embetter was an actual word used from the 16th to the 19th centuries.

As for nucular, that’s an example metathesis, “the switching of two adjacent sounds,” and Bush wasn’t the only who went nucular. Presidents Eisenhower, Carter, and Clinton were also guilty of “mispronouncing” the word.

Romnesia

“If you say you’re for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you’d sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work — you might have Romnesia.”

Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event — Fairfax, VA,” October 19, 2012

Romnesia, in case it isn’t obvious, is a blend of the name of one-time presidential contender Mitt Romney and amnesia.

Romnesia isn’t Obama’s only coinage. Back in 2009 he said, “”There’s something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up.” No one could really figure out what he meant, although Urban Dictionary has a few interesting theories, such as that “wee-wee” has nothing to do with urine but with the little pig who cried wee-wee-wee, all the way home.

As for the most famous neologism about Obama, Obamacare, that was apparently coined by lobbyist Jeanne Schulte Scott in 2007.

Want more presidential words? You might like Paul Dickson’s Words from the White House: Words Coined or Popularized by America’s Presidents and OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word by Allan Metcalf.