The first known reference to smooching under the plant dates to a 1784 English poem, in which three men “kiss beneath the mistletoe” the lips of a “girl not turn’d of twenty.” ...

Kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas is a British tradition that dates back to the 1700s. Mistletoe is believed to be a symbol of life and fertility because its leaves are green all year round.

Saturnalia is also a part of why we kiss under mistletoe. In ancient Greece, to celebrate the festival, people would kiss underneath the parasitic plant because it was associated with fertility.

For most people, mistletoe conjures images of wintry Christmas kissing traditions rather ... "They want to just sneak under the radar for a free lunch." ...