LOVE ALL

Today is, apparently, National Kissing Day - possibly International Kissing Day

Woa, there! Hang on a minute! Before you go rushing off to get started, here are a few interesting facts about the Brits as kissers...

A survey reveals that a staggering 95% of young women believe they aren't getting enough when it comes to kissing.

This isn't surprising considering that nearly a third (29%) of women polled claim that they don't even manage to pucker up once on an average day. Today's the day for Brits to join the lucky lot who claim they kiss up to ten times a day (19%).

What's more nearly a quarter of women (24%) have experienced a kissing drought and gone for over a year without so much as a hint of a kiss. The average period of non-lip action is three to six months for nearly a third (30%) of women. The forecast is not so bad for a fifth (21%) of women who don't go any longer than a month without a kiss.

But clearly we're not kissing enough and nowhere near as much as our European counterparts. Three quarters (75%) of women believe that the Brits should let go of the stiff upper lip and follow the example of Europeans by kissing more openly in public.

The good news is, what we lack in quantity, we definitely make up in quality. In the league of best and worst kissers, the Brits sweep the board with nearly half (42%) of the vote for great kissing. The Italians - the Casanovas of Europe - come in second with 15%, closely followed by the French with 13%.

And you'll find more lip-smacking statistics such as these here.

So, armed with those warnings and encouragements, off you go and enjoy yourselves unless, that is, you're sitting at home watching the Men's Finals in the 2008 Wimbledon Tennis Championship, in which case you may care to ponder my latest...

CAPTION COMPETITION

No one we know, I think; certainly not Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, but what is he saying or thinking...?

Closing date for submissions: Saturday 12 July

Images: (Top) Klimt's 'The Kiss'; (Bottom) Er... somebody's bottom!