baisers or bisous A poem for my Mother listening excercise

Question

Does a mother give baisers or bisous to her children? When is each of those words used.

Accepted Answer

Just to add to what Maarten has said , the noun 'un baiser' is an old-fashioned word for describing a kiss. On a text or email, you would use 'bisous' but as this was a poem it is poetic to use it to say- 
the purity of the kisses we receive from you every day = la pureté des baisers que nous recevons de toi chaque jour 
On a postcard, you might write -
Bons Baisers from Paris = Good kisses from Paris
The verb is to be avoided at all costs as it means something totally different nowadays.!!!

Answer

It is more knowing when not to use ‘baiser’, as ‘baiser’ has standard and acceptable public uses, and amorous, sexual or even vulgar meanings.

‘Baiser’ is best avoided in any situation in which it may be misconstrued, but remains in use in unambiguous contexts, as in this poem, and is found in formal writing etc. I mostly hear ‘bisou/s’ in everyday speech, without doubt.

The one time I heard the vulgar 4 word sentence in public was many years ago when a ‘creature’ brazenly directed it at a female student on a school French trip, in front of other students and adults. Disgusting behaviour !

https://dictionnaire.lerobert.com/definition/baiser

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/baiser/7547

https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9B0149

https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A9B0148

Answer

Just to shed some light on Cécile's somewhat (understandably) cryptic remark:to kiss someone -- embrasser quelq'unDo not say: baiser qqn since that means to f*** someone!

Answer

Hi Chris, 
I remember one of our younger lecturers at uni howling with laughter on telling us how a student had translated -
" Darling, you have not kissed me yet! "
using the 'wrong' verb ...