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Do you hug and kiss friends on the cheek?

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  • 11-06-2013 5:08pm
    #1
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭


    A lot of my friends are Italian or Mediterranean and we often greet each other with a hug or a kiss. I would also hug my Irish friends on occasion but some people seem to take offence to it. I generally don’t hug people unless I know they’re alright with it but to be honest I can’t see the big deal. Some of my Mediterranean friends also had a similar reaction over here. They get the impression that some people sexualise the hug and that we’rea prudish people. I have to agree that I think a lack of physical contact with friends is a weird thing to me. Would it bother you if we were more Mediterraneanin our approach to friends?


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    #2
    Vicar in a tutu
    Registered Users Posts: 901 ✭✭✭Vicar in a tutu


    No we usually punch eachother in the tits


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    #3
    Pilotdude5
    Closed Accounts Posts: 619 ✭✭✭Pilotdude5


    I give them that upward nod and a grunt to acknowledge their presence.


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    #4
    stefan idiot jones
    Registered Users Posts: 3,518 ✭✭✭stefan idiot jones


    My Brother has lived in France for the last eight years and he does this all the time.

    However, he knows better than to act gay when he greets me when I visit.


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    #5
    stimpson
    Registered Users Posts: 7,819 ✭✭✭stimpson


    High five or slap on the arse depending on sex.


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    #6
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    stefan idiot jones wrote: »
    My Brother has lived in France for the last eight years and he does this all the time.

    However, he knows better than to act gay when he greets me when I visit.

    Well I would mainly only give female friends a hug as some Irish men see it as "gay".


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    #7
    herisson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 15,676 ✭✭✭✭herisson


    I nod at my friends or wave and say hello and then hug them when im leaving. When i lived in France it was non stop hugging and cheek kissing. I like my personal space.


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    #8
    IM0
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,390 ✭✭✭IM0


    hugs are for your other half and kids and aunties you havent seen in a long time not day to day friends unless you sense they need it. and male friends? well you better be going through some really bad **** if you want to even contemplate trying to get one


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    #9
    Cody Pomeray
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,648 ✭✭✭Cody Pomeray


    no, i don't mash faces with my acquaintances. a simple Hello has always been adequate.

    Don't understand the need to do this but whatever people are into, no harm.


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    #10
    NothingMan
    Registered Users Posts: 11,178 ✭✭✭✭NothingMan


    I hug all my friends, male or female. Some males in the one hand clasped and bump shoulders "manly" stlye, some in the bear hug, pick up and squeeze kind of way. I wouldn't kiss my male friends on the cheek though, but would some female friends and my family. Nothing wrong with showing some affection to the people you care about.

    Although when I was in France I didn't realise you didn't acually kiss the cheeks on the 2 cheek kiss thing. Wonder if I offended any mademoiselles...


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    #11
    Vicar in a tutu
    Registered Users Posts: 901 ✭✭✭Vicar in a tutu


    I actually find cheek kissing and hugging extremely put on and fake.


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    #12
    enigmatical
    Closed Accounts Posts: 169 ✭✭enigmatical


    You can't go wrong with a bear hug! (unless one party has BO)


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    #13
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Pixie-Fairy wrote: »
    I nod at my friends or wave and say hello and then hug them when im leaving. When i lived in France it was non stop hugging and cheek kissing. I like my personal space.

    Well that's the attitude that I encountered a lot here. I don't understand it. It comes across as cold to be honest!


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    #14
    Real Life
    Registered Users Posts: 943 ✭✭✭Real Life


    I would often hug my female friends when i meet them, rarely the male ones though unless they have been away for a while


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    #15
    The Pheasant
    Registered Users Posts: 372 ✭✭The Pheasant


    Might give my female friends a kiss on the cheek, for the lads a slap on the back or a pat on the shoulder or whatever - if I'm drunk or haven't seen 'em in a while they might get a bearhug


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    #16
    SEPT 23 1989
    Registered Users Posts: 43,028 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    I do not


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    #17
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    The first friendly hug I got off an Italian girl was when I was sitting down and at eye level with her boobs! She proceeded to give me a very passionate long hug while burying my head in her bits! Why can't more Irish women be like that :P


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    #18
    IM0
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,390 ✭✭✭IM0


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    A lot of my friends are Italian or Mediterranean and we often greet each other with a hug or a kiss. I would also hug my Irish friends on occasion but some people seem to take offence to it. I generally don’t hug people unless I know they’re alright with it but to be honest I can’t see the big deal. Some of my Mediterranean friends also had a similar reaction over here. They get the impression that some people sexualise the hug and that we’rea prudish people. I have to agree that I think a lack of physical contact with friends is a weird thing to me. Would it bother you if we were more Mediterraneanin our approach to friends?

    question, where are you from and lived to early 20's? different cultures do different things


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    #19
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    IM0 wrote: »
    question, where are you from and lived to early 20's, and m or f ?

    I'm Irish, never lived in a mediterranean country and I'm male.


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    #20
    Lando Griffin
    Registered Users Posts: 2,952 ✭✭✭Lando Griffin


    A male friend of mine I ha-dent seen for a while hugged me down the local a few years back and my arms just froze by my side.
    All my mates went Ohhhhhh and the barman pulled me a beer shandy.


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    #21
    The Backwards Man
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,299 ✭✭✭✭The Backwards Man


    I like the shaking hands thing that happens in a lot of countries. No one seems to do it here though.


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    #22
    IM0
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,390 ✭✭✭IM0


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I'm Irish, never lived in a mediterranean country and I'm male.

    how did you end up with lots of mediteranean friends then :confused:


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    #23
    WilyCoyote
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,059 ✭✭✭WilyCoyote


    I try to but when they turn and run I do the Heimlich on them. High Fives all round!


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    #24
    qo2cj1dsne8y4k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23,646 ✭✭✭✭qo2cj1dsne8y4k


    Special friends get hugs, other friends only get hugs if I'm drunk and they're sad.


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    #25
    Tonyandthewhale
    Registered Users Posts: 1,867 ✭✭✭Tonyandthewhale


    I'm surprised how many people have said hugging is gay or weird. I understand that some people are precious about their personal space and don't want people hugging them but generally I was under the impression that platonic physical contact is a natural part of being close friends with someone. When I meet up with friends the greeting can be a nod, a handshake, a hug or a kiss on the cheek depending on the mood and the context and the friends in question.


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    #26
    smurfjed
    Registered Users Posts: 10,097 ✭✭✭✭smurfjed


    In the Middle East its extremely common that all greetings are done with a handshake, when you meet friends or even some colleagues the greeting is a number of kisses on each cheek. This i can deal with, but i bloody hate when a male takes my hand and starts leading me somewhere, totally freaks me out.

    smurfjed


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    #27
    IM0
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,390 ✭✭✭IM0


    smurfjed wrote: »
    Around here its extremely common that all greetings are done with a handshake, when you meet friends or even some colleagues the greeting is a number of kisses on each cheek. This i can deal with, but i bloody hate when a male takes my hand and starts leading me somewhere, totally freaks me out.

    smurfjed

    lovely. but i missedthe memo on where youre from?


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    #28
    Ihatecuddles-old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,785 ✭✭✭Ihatecuddles-old


    I'd kiss most of my male friends when I'm saying hello ..


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    #29
    kisaragi
    Registered Users Posts: 404 ✭✭kisaragi


    I mainly hug/kiss my male friends. I would hate anyone to see me hugging a girl and think I might be straight.


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    #30
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    IM0 wrote: »
    how did you end up with lots of mediteranean friends then :confused:

    College! It's a great way to meet people off all flavours.


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    #31
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    I usually hug some close male friends and would kiss close female friends on the cheek on greeting.

    You get to know over time who doesn't really do it but most do.

    It's just one of a number of ways to greet people. No big deal.

    I don't really buy the usual student claptrap that everybody in Ireland is some kind of frigid, uptight prude while everybody on the continent is passionate and non-repressed.


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