No one has captured the truly sexy allure of science better than the great musician Thomas Dolby with his hit, She Blinded Me With Science.But, we’ll try and top that with these scintillating terms that are sure to woo the heart of any scientist. Some of these words are pulled directly from the sciences, but others have murkier histories…
Osculation is simply the act of kissing. Don’t confuse it with auscultation, which is a medical term for “the act of listening, either directly or through a stethoscope or other instrument, to sounds within the body a method of diagnosis.”
TIP: If you’re going to ask permission for a little osculation, be sure to speak clearly.
Typhlobasia is kissing with your eyes closed. Some claim this term literally means “a blind kiss,” and comes from the Greek typhlo- (blindness) + Latin basium (a kiss).
We don’t vouch for this term 100%, but sincerely hope it becomes legitimate one day. It’s just too darn cute.
Melolagnia is arousal from music. Though we’ve found it used in some official publications (and one book on sex practices), it isn’t considered a formal medical term, so don’t quote us on this!
Since “setting the mood” with music (Marvin Gaye, anyone? Ok, Prince?) is clearly a thing, we think it deserves its own word. Melolagnia is downright mellifluous, and it nods to some Greek roots (“melo-” relating to music, and “lagnia” relating to lust), so why not?
This one’s completely legit!
Renifleur means “a person who is sexually aroused or gratified by odors.” It is indeed from the French renifler: to sniff. (It’s hard to find a French word that doesn’t sound appealing, right?)
These smelly delights could range from fresh-baked bread to your loved one’s favorite T-shirt, the one that always smells a bit like them, even after laundering.
Amomaxia supposedly describes “romance” in a parked car, which, we believe, may have simply been called “parking” back in the day. (Or, going to the drive-in!)
Unfortunately, this word has a very weak origin story, so who knows where it came from.
Cataglottisme means “French kissing,” or using the tongue while kissing.
This word sounds about as awkward as French kissing can be, which might be why it hasn’t been used much since the 1600s.
If you’ve ever wondered why people like Charles Manson receive love letters and marriage proposals when they’re in jail, or even on death row, chalk it up to hybristophilia, the act of being drawn to or romantically aroused by someone who has committed an outrageous crime.
This is also known as “Bonnie and Clyde Syndrome,” which makes sense once you’ve seen Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway together on the screen in the 1967 film of the same name.
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