Where has all this kissy kissy stuff come from


I hate kissing strangers, and when I see people bearing down on me with lips puckered........eughhhhh.

New year is a minefield for me......I tend to go to the loo, and pretend I've already wished everyone  a good new year 

I like kisses, and cuddles with close family though

*** licks stoory ***

New Years is fine.... tongues all round.

Its the family... and my husbands friends & their wives.     some of them even grab the back of your head as they zoom to the side of your face...

Wipes cheek on anti bacterial wipe

My family of brothers and sisters have recently joined in with all the kissy kissy stuff that we grew out of as weans kissing (walton styly) goodnight.
I don't say much but deffo give an air kiss if it looks even remotely possible that they might be closing in for a real smacker on the lips.
Methinks they watch too much tele!

And there's the feeling that sometimes people do it because it has become fashionable, and when they do it they feel so very uncomfortable. Perhaps the insincerity is worse than the physical contact.
But, as I mentioned in the OP - does anybody have any ideas how, when and where this began. It didn't used to be like this. Who started it?

Used to be handshakes in the old days-- think it's a celeb introduced thing.

This may help, brisket.

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-air-kiss

Even modern day handshakes have got complicated now -- when you see the rappers etc; with all the bling on greeting friends.

Real   - I suspect you are right about it being a celebrity thing.
and
Blizzie thanks for the link.  That is fun - and it shows the utter insincerity of air kissing.

Haven't read all the replies but in some European countries it's normal to kiss on both sides of the cheek, in some countries they do it 3 times. It's actually healthier than shaking hands like Brits do as viruses, like flu etc, can be passed on that way.

Reckon the air kiss was to stop folk from getting germs.

The Japanese have it sussed-- just bow.

This is quite interesting. 4 pages.

http://www.time.com/time/magaz...171,914776-1,00.html

And headbutt!

Thanks for the link to the Time magazine article Blizzie. Very interesting.
I loved the first paragraph:
"...often performed by two women who dislike each other, who wear makeup they don't want smeared and who both resemble Bette Davis in her middle years."

And later in the article Linda Ronstadt says: "The business consists of people who are so desperately insecure and lonely, and they have to have contact: we're all affection junkies."

The particular mwah mwah air kiss seems to be to do with "need" and is insincere.
I must resist the temptation.

i have quite a few foreign associates and they do  2 kisses for friends and 3 if they are really pleased to see you or haven't seen you in a long time, so i join in.

when i meet my english friends or family , it's usaully a smile and 'awright then'