Expert: Carol Pozefsky - 8/23/2007

Question
is the term "kissin' cousins" a derivative of "kith and kin"?

Answer
Hello,  I hope you're having a fine week.
   'Kissin' cousins' is a sourthern Americanism that predates the Civil War.  The term at first referred to a distant blood relationshi but today means a very close friend who is considered family.  The 'Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins' states:  It still is used in its original sense of a relative far removed enough to permit marriage, "an eighth cousin" in the North.
'Kissin' cousins' does not derive from kith and kin.
Kin stems from the Middle English word 'cynn' meaning race, kind or people.  It's a derivative of the word 'kindred' meaning related by birth or (incorrectly) marriage.   Kin refers to one's relatives collectively.
Kith literally means knowledge of etiquette (believe it or not) but has come to mean familiar friends, neighbors, countrymen or acquaintances.
The term kith and kin means one's relations and/or family connections.
   The best to you always,   Carol P.