Incroyable! French finally find word for French Kiss
Dictionary adds 'galocher' to French language, but lack of word 'never stopped us doing it', says publisher

THE French kiss, the intimate, tongue-twisting, saliva-sharing gesture synonymous with Gallic passion, has finally found a name … in France.
To the surprise of many, the French have never had a word for the passionate interplay of lips and tongues. Until now, that is. The latest edition of the Petit Robert dictionary boasts a brand-new verb – galocher, meaning "to kiss with tongues".
It's a "clever derivation" of la galoche, a word for an ice-skating boot, and so evokes the idea of "sliding around the ice — or the lips and tongue", explains Time.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The term 'French Kiss' is believed to have been coined by American soldiers returning from World War I in Europe. They used it to describe the "more adventurous" kissing of the Frenchwomen they smooched. But the country that unleashed first Brigitte Bardot and then Serge Gainsbourg's Je t'aime … Moi non plus on an unsuspecting world, somehow failed to come up with a word for uninhibited snogging.
"We always had many expressions to describe 'French-kissing', like 'kissing at length in the mouth', but it's true, we've never had one single word,"
Laurence Laporte of the Robert publishing house told The Guardian. The slang term galocher had been around for a while, she said, "but only now is it being officially recognised in a French dictionary".
The lack of a specific term for French kissing "never stopped us from doing it," said Laporte, somewhat unnecessarily.
Not surprisingly, galocher has attracted rather more attention than some of the other new words and phrases included in Petit Robert's 2014 edition.
They range from microblog and texter to boson de Higgs. Less prosaic entries include être dans les patates (to be confused) and the "delightfully onomatopoeic" bombasse, which translates roughly as "hottie".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - free trade, judicial pushback, and more
By The Week US
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushback
Cartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
By The Week US
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipe
The Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
By The Week UK
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK