It is self evident that KISS and SALIVA have to do with LIP and TONGUE which in turn relate to NUTRITION, NURSING, NURTURING and MOTHER.

SALIVA is an EXcretion of mucous glands such as the PAROTID or "paraOTIC" which is adjacent to the EAR. Other major salivary glands are the sub LINGUAL and sub MAXILLARY or MANDIBULAR.

After delivery from the MAtrix, MAternal instincts permit mammals to suck mammilary glands to materialize nutritious matter into living matter.

The saliva is SLIMY because it contains MUCUS. In Spanish, MOCO and MOCOSO implies that children can be "slimy" and that their noses are prone to "run" or excrete mucus.

The saliva SOAKS food with digestive ENZYMES which render nutrients more SUCCULENT and tasteful. Properly chewed or masticated foods should virtually be of the consistency of SOUP or SOP. Because the saliva contains alpha aMYLase, it degrades INSIPID starch into sweet tasting MALtose or DEXTRIN.

SAVVY gourmands know that to EAT slowly, from POTS designed to keep foods warm, makes meals more PALATABLE and POTABLE. To SUP or SIP SOUP with gusto will enhance any SUPPER, particularly if time is taken for LIBATIONS to TOAST others.

Saliva also enters into the sphere of desires as in "LICK your LIPS" or "KISSES" which point toward appetites which may end in OBESITY or nourish or nurture the psyche in other ways.  

OSCULATE, it could be said, describes KISSING. Os and osculum in Latin stand for "mouth like opening" and "two symmetric curves that touch". In most cultures, LIP or ORAL contact implies greeting, reverence and adoration.

The view of kiss as an expression of tenderness is quite ancient. The Hittites referred to kissing as KUWASS. Ovid reminds us that Venus offered to Mercury a reward of "seven kisses from the mouth" if he could return Psyche, so wrote Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.

"My lips -
Two blushing pilgrims ready stand
to smooth that touch rough
with a tender kiss ..." .

Sips and Kisses

When "kiss" becomes equated with CATAglossia, such CATAstrophe could perhaps please some CATAmites but would otherwise CATApult or point to a cultural  CATAbasis. Fortunately Shakespeare and other poets are antidotes against SLIMY views of kissing that may SLIP, SLIDE or otherwise downgrade our views of  KISS and counteract SLICK merchandizing techniques. In any case, current commercialized entertainment portray kissing as if it is "lip sucking". CATAGLOTTISM is also often shown as an aggressive and at times violent act. Perhaps mercenary merchants consider that merchandizing kissing as lechery and violence is a "better business" approach than a stress on kissing as tenderness. Lechery has roots in licker, lingual and lyzun, which in Latin and Ukrainian stand for tongue and adulator. In any case, such trends are unlikely to replace more tender views of KISSING.