Christmas Kisses, Courtesy of Mistletoe and Certs

Ten Facts About Kissing - by Jeannie Ralston

1. Record romancing. The current record for the longest kiss is held by a New Jersey couple who kissed for a record 30 hours, 59 minutes, and 27 seconds on December 5, 2001, as part of a Valentine's Day TV special.

2. Make-out workout. A passionate kiss uses up 6.4 calories per minute.

3. Oooh! Germs! During a kiss, as many as 278 colonies of bacteria are exchanged.

4. Road testing. The average American woman has kissed 79 men before she is married.

5. Sexiest screen smooches. According to a Gallup poll, the hottest kisses take place between Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind.

6. You may kiss the bride. The nuptial kiss at the altar began during Roman times as a symbol of the spiritual union between bride and groom, who exchanged "the breath of life."

7. Slip of the tongue. The term "French kiss" came into use in prudish America in 1923 as a slur on French culture, which was thought to be shockingly oversexed.

8. When in France. Don't call it a French kiss at all. The proper, more titillating term: a "tongue kiss" or "soul kiss."

9. Kissing cousins. Ninety percent of the people of the world engage in kisses on the lips, anthropologists say. Some other cultures, such as Eskimos, use the "smell kiss" -- rubbing noses.

10. Lip smackeroos. A lipstick imprint of a kiss made by Mick Jagger's mouth once sold for $1,600.--Jeannie Ralston