Word of the Week: Knutschfleck

It's often the trademark of a passionate love: the love bite, or hickey. Generally someone who brandishes a love bite - or "Knutschfleck" in German (literally, "smooching spot") - often has a sudden taste for turtlenecks, scarves and shawls.

The "Knutschfleck" is caused when a kiss on the skin creates a vacuum, bursting small blood vessels and leaving a telling bruise that generally turns from red to blue to green to yellow. A "Knutschfleck" usually disappears after a week or so, meaning the safe return of the turtlenecks and scarves back to the closet.

If you get another "Knutschfleck" before the first one disappears, it's a sure sign that the relationship has a future.