Body Language of Lip Licking

Body Language of Lip Licking

BodyLanguageProjectCom - Lip Licking 1Cue: Lip Licking

Synonym(s): Moistening The Lips, Wetting The Lips, Frequent Lip Licking, Excessive Lick Licking.

Description: The tongue is run over the lips usually repeatedly or in succession.

In One Sentence: Lip licking demonstrates a need for pacifying or, in the right context, sexual interest.

How To Use it: While habitual lip licking should be avoided since it shows anxiety, women can use obvious lip licking coupled with eye contact to show sexual interest. The cue must be done in context, with focus gaze, eyes should make eye contact or be looking squarely to body parts they find arousing. When done correctly, the signal can tell men that there is unequivocal sexual interest. This will cause men to pursue if the feeling is reciprocal.

Lip licking can also be used to show others that you are getting ready to speak. This is made obvious as we often moisten the lips to facilitate communication.

Context: a) General b) Dating.

Verbal Translation: “I’m licking my lips to moisten them, to prepare for speaking or kissing, or to sooth myself.”

Variant: When pacifying, the tongue can be run over the teeth to pacify. The tongue sometimes pokes out of the mouth during periods of high concentration and focus. See Running The Tongue Over The Teeth or Lips.

Cue In Action: a) She wanted to interject. Just before speaking, she wet her lips and parted them slightly. a) He was getting ready for the exam and repeatedly licked his lips in anticipation. He needed to sooth his excited nerves. b) She was hot for the guy in the suite. Subconsciously, she licked her lips while her eyes darted toward his mouth.

Meaning and/or Motivation: An increase in lip licking is due to a decrease in saliva production which is in turn caused by high stress. Conversely, high blood flow to the lips is due to sexual arousal in a dating context. Alternatively, licking the lips is in effort to moisten them to speak.

When done by women in courtship lip licking indicates sexual interest especially if done frequently, with eye contact and in the proper context. Lips are said to imitate the female labia and licking them draws attention by both making them shiny, and also by movement – of the tongue. Lips are also licked just before kissing and can be a kiss indicator if the lips are licked while looking at the lips of another.

Repeated or excessive licking serves to pacify and sooth negative feelings. In this gesture, the tongue can be seen darting out of the mouth, swiping the top lip on the way and curling under to swipe the bottom lip as it reenters. A person that licks as part of his idiosyncratic behaviour is usually one that has underlying emotional turmoil.

The lips can sometimes be licked as a prelude before speaking to make communication easier. Other times, lip licking has no emotional meaning at all and only serves a practical purpose – to moisten dry or chapped lips.

Cue Cluster: Cues associated with lip licking will depend on the context. Usually lip licking in dating signifies arousal if eye contact anchors the cue. Eyes that look toward a man’s mouth is a good indication that a kiss is welcomed. Lip licking before presenting to an audience often shows anxiety and stress due to a dry mouth, as does excessive lip licking during a stressful event.

Body Language Category: Auto contact or self touching, Autoerotic touching, Courtship displays, Emotional body language, Stroking body language, Indicators of sexual interest (IOsI), Intention movements, Microgestures, Nervous body language, Pacifying body language, Stressful body language.

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