Help me translate this t-shirt!

January 14, 2019 4:26 PM

I found this J.Crew t-shirt at a thrift store, same as this one here on Poshmark. It says "KISS" in many different languages (at least I think it does), and I want to know which languages is which, and if it does for sure mean "kiss" in that language. I found most of them, but I'm having trouble googling "koss." Thanks!

BISOU (French)
KISU (Japanese)

BACIO (Italian)
MUAH (Universal? :-)
PETÓ (Catalan)
BEIJO (Portuguese)
FILÍ (Greek)
KOSS (???)
BESO (Spanish)
HÔN (Vietnamese)
KISS (English)

posted by Shadow Boxer to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

Icelandic?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 4:29 PM on January 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

A little playing with Google Translate got me Icelandic as well.
posted by MadamM at 4:30 PM on January 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

Might also possibly be KUSS (German).
posted by praemunire at 6:04 PM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Wiktionary also says it's Icelandic.
posted by neushoorn at 10:46 PM on January 14, 2019 [1 favorite]

Regarding the "does it definitely mean kiss in that language", I speak (Canadian) French and can confirm that "bisou" is correct. It's also something you might exclaim when parting ways with someone you feel warmly towards. Here's a good explanation of the meaning and how it's distinct from other French kissing words.
posted by ITheCosmos at 4:13 AM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks regarding "KOSS" being Icelandic.

Also, any help confirming if each definitely mean kiss in each language (I know you can't always trust Google) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
posted by Shadow Boxer at 4:34 AM on January 15, 2019