Quote:
Originally Posted by Pearl Trade
Interesting that no one has really mentioned USA yet.
Handshakes are common fare for anyone. Hugs are usually used for family. Alot of the youth do things like fist bumps and hand slap type things. Don't know what to call it.
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It's a melting pot of a nation. No one hand gesture or phrasing is going to sum up the customs of +300 million people. Fist bumps, for whatever reason, have gained alot of headway in the past decade among many youths and adults alike. Some 'downhome' states regular employ their trademark 'Southern Hospitality' appeal and go for the bear hugs and passionate smooches (one stop short of full-grab). I'd reckon its impossible for any person to definitively sum up their nations means of saluations without first having traveled throughout the entire region, and gaining your expertise from there. You are welcome to try, but I'd more than likely observe and report to you than in Cataluna, things go like this, and in Oviedo, they are more like this. Also, things graduate over time, decades, generations, so what was customary then, may be passe now. What makes the difference are the subtle or altogether huge nuances(I know oxymoron, both ways).
I'd also caution for anyone reading to take the above contributions from other members as mere tips and pointers of what you may encounter, a 'usual occurrence', but to not altogether rely on them as canon for what every person of said nationality would regularly engage in. People are not automatically what whatever guidebook or tourist informant tells us what their culture is.
Explore your neighborhood, city, state, country and find what people prefer.
Honestly, I haven't heard anyone say 'Hello' to me in 2-3 years. It is usually a 'Hey', 'What's up?' or 'How's it going?'.