# French Kissing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541 "2000-05-25T20:28:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ozone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e95f7d/32.png) [@Ozone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ozone)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/1 "2000-05-25T20:28:35Z")
Anyone have any idea why we call an open-mouth kiss involving the tongue a “French” kiss, and what do they call that kind of kiss in France? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/2 "2000-05-25T20:33:58Z")
I’m going to guess it’s because in the U.S. we think of the French as oo-la-la naughty. A “French letter” is slang for, I believe, condoms. French kissing is also called “soul kissing,” by the by . . . ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/3 "2000-05-25T22:13:05Z")
The version I heard is the term came back with US soldiers returning from France after WWI. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2000, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/4 "2000-05-25T23:39:50Z")
Merriam-Webster dates the expression to 1923, which is in a similar time frame to Padeye’s explanation. I agree with Eve on the origin. Besides French letter and French kiss, I’ve also heard “the French way” for oral sex, “French postcards” for pornographic pictures, “French pox” for syphilis (though the french blame it on the english) and, of course, “pardon my french”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/5 "2000-05-26T01:51:05Z")
Of course, the French call it _baiser chez les anglais_ (to kiss like the English), except of course for the Quebecois, who simply use the verb _frencher_. A French letter is _une capote anglaise_ (an English cap). Oh, right. _Pardonnez mon anglais!_ ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/6 "2000-05-26T13:38:56Z")
Mrs. O, who is an avid Civil War reenactor (I tag along sometimes - it’s kinda fun) has a packet of “French envelopes”. Now I’m not entirely sure if these are actually period-correct in material and manufacture, but they are indeed condoms. Never heard of “French letter” myself, but then again I hadn’t heard of “French envelope” either until about a year ago. Simplement mes deux centimes. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/7 "2000-05-26T17:16:37Z")
A bit off-topic, but I remember an episode of _Picket Fences_ in which kissing without tongue was called “Yugoslav kissing”. (The Bosnia-Serbia war was still raging when the episode aired.) Did the script writers just make that up or is kissing without tongues really called “Yugoslav kissing”? I’ve never heard or seen that expression used except in that one episode. ---
**Author:** ![avalongod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@avalongod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/avalongod)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2000, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/8 "2000-05-26T23:35:49Z")
Just to throw out a semi-relevant factoid…I heard one time on TLC that it was the Romans who invented “French” kissing. Can’t confirm that, but neat bit of info. ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/french-kissing/20541/9 "2000-05-27T03:45:01Z")
movie quote from The Last of the Mohicians “the french are to busy making love with their faces to fight”