How do you greet in your country? Is hugging and kissing common when you greet someone?

34 comments

1. No kissing, hugging is perfectly fine if you are somewhat familiar with the other side

2. You say hey or nod your head. Down if you don’t know the person you greet and up if you know him/her

3. Hugging and kissing is for family and really close friends. In other cases just say “hello” 🤷‍♀️

4. Hugging is common between close friends, especially in the younger generations. Kissing is extremely uncommon.

5. just shake hands, actually since I moved from romania I miss this a bit, in NL it’s not common

6. Kissing, no, in no form or way.

   Hugging, yes if it is family or a close friend. Some people are huggers, others are not though.

   For strangers a simple handshake or just spoken words; “Hej”/”Goddag”

   Also people don’t think much about COVID around here anymore, things are mostly back to normal, all restrictions were lifted months ago.

7. Both of those are unusual. Except for close family and even then it’s usually just a hug. Between friends it’s not really a thing and never happens with acquaintances.

8. Cheek kissing is out of the question for younger generations.

   Hand shaking is very neutral, and very common when people meet for the first time.

   The hug is a complex thing. In some cases it’s absolutely taken for granted, while for some people (even close friends), it¨ has been silently agreed upon that you don’t hug or even shake hands at all.

   Then there’s the half-assed hug for people you haven’t met in a while, but you didn’t really miss them. Or when you hug someone you like a lot and their friend is standing right next to them, you’re kinda forced to give them a one-armed embrace too. If both are males, a solid pat on the back is almost mandatory.

9. Not common. Just smile and nod. Wave if you spot someone from afar.

   Close friends sometimes hug on greeting if they haven’t seen for a long time or if it’s emotional for some other reason. But hugs are more common as “goodbye”s than “hello”s.

10. Close male friends get a hug or a handshake, depending on how long ago it is that we’ve last seen eachother. Other men get a handshake.

    Close female friends get a hug or one kiss on the cheek. For others it depends on the situation, traditionally it would be three kisses but that’s uncommon and mostly done with family members such as aunts or grandmothers.

    With strangers it’s usually a handshake and “Hey, (my name)”

11. Depends on the person, but I can tell you that in Poland it’s not common to kiss like in France or Italy. Hugs are more common among girls and women. Boys and men usually just shake hands for a brief moment and that’s it. Some even don’t do that, because don’t want to touch each other.

12. Similar to the other Northern Europeans here, handshakes in formal situations, hugging between close friends, or just a nod and an ‘alright?’. Sometimes lads/roadmen like to do something funny with you like fist bumps or slaps or whatever (I can’t remember what that thing that’s halfway between a handshake and a high five is called).

    We don’t do any of that kissing stuff they do in Latin countries, it’s weird and awkward and we hate it and just no.

13. Never heard of it, never saw it. Only between Slovaks…

    (I’m from Prague)

14. Hugging and sometimes fake kissing for family and handshakes for the rest

15. Usually kissing is the most common thing to do in a big lunch with almost unknown relatives, same things with dinners with your parents friends.

    Hugging is a really special great for very close friends in special occasions (for example you won’t be able to see each other for a long time).

    In any other situations just say “ciao” or “salve” by default.

16. Faux cheek kiss if it’s between a male and female or two females, mostly between older people, between young people hugging if friends or hand shake if you meet someone

17. Hugging with close friends & family.

    Kiss left/right with extended family, friends of your family & some acquantainces you’re not that close with.

18. Unless I am at work is usually two kisses on the cheeks.

19. Hugging yes, kissing mmm not a lot. Since covid, fist bumps, rarely a handshake

20. We kiss pretty much everyone on the cheeks, whether it’s people we meet, friends, family members. But handshakes with people such as your boss or any hierarchical superior and business partners, to keep things formal. And old people too, out of respect.

    Hugging as greeting is nearly unheard of, I would say. I’ve only ever done it because I hadn’t seen the person in a very long time.

21. Between people in a formal setting, a firm handshake.

    In an unformal setting, three kisses (left-right-left) between man and woman or two women. Younger people don’t do that when they know or like each other well, but hug instead, sometimes with one kiss.

    Between men, a firm handshake, those who like and know each other give a bro-hug (take each other’s hand with interlocked thumbs and hug with the other arm) or even a hug. Family members hug too.

    During corona, this was shaken up a bit. I think many women were glad they didn’t have to do kisses with half-strangers and uncles anymore.

    And when I say “kiss”, I mean over the shoulder of course, where only the cheeks touch, if at all.

22. In the Uk its becoming far too common and I despise it.

23. To strangers or acquintances, a handshake and a smile.

    To friends or family, a hug.

    Kissing is almost never done as a greeting in general.

24. If you don’t know them, either do nothing or maybe a small head nod. If you know them from work, a quiet “huom…” (morn…) if pressed. Normally no comments. In public, the first to notice will usually low-key hide so you don’t have to say anything. Among family, usually nothing. Among long-term colleagues, even less.

25. Among friends, apart from shaking hands:

    – Hugging is common
    – Kiss on the cheek is common if MF or FF greeting. Sometimes also MM but more in the south. One kiss for greeting; three kisses for birthdays.

    With strangers or in a professional setting you generally stick to shaking hands.

26. If they’re strangers, a handshake is the usual way. If they’re friends, it kind of depends what kind of friends you have, but I hug my friends when we meet. When greeting family, it’s normal to do the three cheek kisses. Again, it kind of depends on the preferences of the people involved. Some people do the kisses with friends as well, some friends only like to shake hands or say hi.

27. Kissing is pretty common here if you are familiar with that person. Works both for greetings and goodbyes. Almost always if it’s family members or really close friends. Hugging as well. I wouldn’t kiss/hug someone I met for the first time. But if by the end of the meeting people get along they would usually hug even if it was the first meeting.

28. No kissing. Very rarely hugging, tho some people do it more often, it depends on the character and relationship.

    Handshake is pure business. Fistbump is the casual handshake. When we were young we did the upward handshake, aka the bro handshake, which might come back now after corona.

    Nodding is always ok in a friendly setting or when meeting friends of friends.

    If you come here, be open but don’t initiate hugs or kisses unless you have extreme charisma and even then, it might be pushy with most people, when you are a stranger.

29. Hugging and kissing for family and close friends yeah, maybe a fistbump or the COVID elbow touch sometimes instead, depending on the person. Handshake to be more professional, or even just a nod of the head is common too.

30. Kissing on the cheeks (it ends being more like air kisses while touching cheeks) is the usual way to greet people, except between two men or in a business situation. But hugs are only for friends and family, and typically only if we haven’t seen them for a while or they’re feeling down. And we know not to kiss foreigners that aren’t from Southern Europe or Latin America. (None of this applies during the pandemic.)

31. People you see every day: you say “hi”, “good morning”, “how are you”

    People you meet for the first time or people you have not met for some time (outside work): approximate cheeks and pretend kiss. – between men or at work: handshake

    Close people: kisses and hugs

32. Based on my experience in northern Lower Saxony:

    Kissing: between men, no. Some women do it to female friends and even men, but that’s not the norm.

    Hugging: not the standard to greet like that. Most common between family and women friends, followed by men and women friends. But it’s not considered weird or anything when men give each other a hug and pat each other on the back.

    Shaking hands is more common than both.

    Other than that the universal northern German greeting “Moin” does the job at any time of day.

33. Unless you’re in a formal or work environment, you always kiss twice, one of each cheek, if it is female to female or male to female. If it is male to male there’s a handshake.

    Between friends usually a handshake and hug or a kiss and hug.

    I understand cultures that don’t do it the same way we do but I don’t understand people commenting here like if there is something wrong or weird about it. It’s like if you’re proud of being cold

34. Think general secretary of NATO , Jens Stoltenberg, serves as an example for Norway. While he was PM of Norway he celebrated 50 years and hosted a party..[Just look at how he reacts](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfrY4rRmPFw&ab_channel=ungehoyre) when a collegue of him bend towards him to give him a hug… It’s pretty close to how many norwegian would react to people trying to be to intimate. Most famous hug in modern history of norway.