3 ms·

Isn't hugging a very American thing, though? I'm French and I'm pretty sure there's not even a word for that. I don't remember hugging anyone apart from my ni

Isn't hugging a very American thing, though? I'm French and I'm pretty sure there's not even a word for that. I don't remember hugging anyone apart from my niece when she was like 5. And now only two years later we don't do that. Two adults hugging is weird, to be honest. IMHO you're not supposed to touch people unless you're deeply intimate. EDIT. Others mention how French people kissing each others on the cheek is weird to foreigners, including American people. This is probably true indeed and worth mentioning.

test6554 9y ago
French people one-up hugging by kissing on the cheek. Putting your mouth on someone is more intimate in America than putting your arms around them. It's like 3rd base vs 2nd base imho.
deleted 9y ago
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YaxelPerez 9y ago
Isn't the word for hug in French "embrasse"?
- grondilu 9y ago
  Etymologically, yes. "bras" means "arm". "em-bras-ser" this means "take in arms". Strictly speaking, that's still what it means, but if you ask anyone what "embrasser" means, he will tell you it means "to kiss". Amusingly enough you made me realize the split between the literal meaning of the word and its current acceptation.
bitwize 9y ago
On the other hand, Italians and French have more lax attitudes toward kissing acquaintances, particularly women, than we find appropriate here in the USA. Those little cheek kisses... even those are weird to us, unless we're intimate.
wccrawford 9y ago
I didn't realize this was an American thing. I'd assume that people the world over hugged their relatives, at least.
songshu 9y ago
Do some French people do social kissing? How do you feel about that?
thesumofall 9y ago
So what about bisous? At least in South France it seems quite common to kiss colleagues (even some you’ve just met the first time) and strangers at parties
gowld 9y ago
The article is about humanity's loss of touch as a form of socialization. The French lost it earlier than British (the topic of the article) and Americans.
justherefortart 9y ago
étreinte (to embrace) http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/%C3%A9treinte/31554 http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/%C3%A9treinte/...
- grondilu 9y ago
  It's not exactly obsolete, but really nobody uses this word casually. I also guaranty you that if you say "étreins-moi" (embrace me) to someone, he will understand it in a sexual way (not "hug me"). The closest may be "serrer dans les bras", and it's not a word, it's a description of what is done.
  - justherefortart 9y ago
    Ah yeah, I remember that from French class. Been a LONG time :-) Serrer dans les bras, we thought that was hilarious as kids. J'aime les gros Roberts was another good one.
  - lloeki 9y ago
    "Faire un câlin" is more casual and the closest translation to me. "Faire des câlins" though definitely veers into sexual matters (not necessarily sexual intercourse)
J-dawg 9y ago
And yet you guys go around kissing each other all the time. I enjoy hugging both male and female friends, but I find French-style social kissing painfully awkward. So much potential for clashing faces, or accidentally planting one on their lips. I’m not saying either one of us is right or wrong, just offering an alternative perspective.
- grondilu 9y ago
  Well, yeah. There is indeed the kiss on the cheek, called "la bise", which is a fairly common greeting, even between adult males. I've always found it awkward myself, but that may just be me.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> IMHO you're not supposed to touch people unless you're deeply intimate. Casual hugging is more common in America than France, cheek kissing the other way around; each violates the other culture’s expectations by being overly familiar and weird to the uninitiated.
flukus 9y ago
Not just American, Greeks are very big on hugging as well in my experience. I live in an area with a lot of greek immigrants (2nd or third generation now) and the amount of hugging feels unnatural to me because I grew up in the British tradition, a hug from my father means someone has died, a hug from my mother means we won't see each other for several months. Between me living further away from them and the family aging I think we actually hug each other more now than when I lived with them. The lack of hugging is something we're consciously not passing on to the next generation.

test6554 9y ago

French people one-up hugging by kissing on the cheek. Putting your mouth on someone is more intimate in America than putting your arms around them. It's like 3rd base vs 2nd base imho.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

YaxelPerez 9y ago

Isn't the word for hug in French "embrasse"?

grondilu 9y ago
Etymologically, yes. "bras" means "arm". "em-bras-ser" this means "take in arms". Strictly speaking, that's still what it means, but if you ask anyone what "embrasser" means, he will tell you it means "to kiss". Amusingly enough you made me realize the split between the literal meaning of the word and its current acceptation.

bitwize 9y ago

On the other hand, Italians and French have more lax attitudes toward kissing acquaintances, particularly women, than we find appropriate here in the USA. Those little cheek kisses... even those are weird to us, unless we're intimate.

wccrawford 9y ago

I didn't realize this was an American thing. I'd assume that people the world over hugged their relatives, at least.

songshu 9y ago

Do some French people do social kissing? How do you feel about that?

thesumofall 9y ago

So what about bisous? At least in South France it seems quite common to kiss colleagues (even some you’ve just met the first time) and strangers at parties

gowld 9y ago

The article is about humanity's loss of touch as a form of socialization. The French lost it earlier than British (the topic of the article) and Americans.

justherefortart 9y ago

étreinte (to embrace) http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/%C3%A9treinte/31554 http://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/%C3%A9treinte/...

grondilu 9y ago
It's not exactly obsolete, but really nobody uses this word casually. I also guaranty you that if you say "étreins-moi" (embrace me) to someone, he will understand it in a sexual way (not "hug me"). The closest may be "serrer dans les bras", and it's not a word, it's a description of what is done.
- justherefortart 9y ago
  Ah yeah, I remember that from French class. Been a LONG time :-) Serrer dans les bras, we thought that was hilarious as kids. J'aime les gros Roberts was another good one.
- lloeki 9y ago
  "Faire un câlin" is more casual and the closest translation to me. "Faire des câlins" though definitely veers into sexual matters (not necessarily sexual intercourse)

J-dawg 9y ago

And yet you guys go around kissing each other all the time. I enjoy hugging both male and female friends, but I find French-style social kissing painfully awkward. So much potential for clashing faces, or accidentally planting one on their lips. I’m not saying either one of us is right or wrong, just offering an alternative perspective.

grondilu 9y ago
Well, yeah. There is indeed the kiss on the cheek, called "la bise", which is a fairly common greeting, even between adult males. I've always found it awkward myself, but that may just be me.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> IMHO you're not supposed to touch people unless you're deeply intimate. Casual hugging is more common in America than France, cheek kissing the other way around; each violates the other culture’s expectations by being overly familiar and weird to the uninitiated.

flukus 9y ago

Not just American, Greeks are very big on hugging as well in my experience. I live in an area with a lot of greek immigrants (2nd or third generation now) and the amount of hugging feels unnatural to me because I grew up in the British tradition, a hug from my father means someone has died, a hug from my mother means we won't see each other for several months. Between me living further away from them and the family aging I think we actually hug each other more now than when I lived with them. The lack of hugging is something we're consciously not passing on to the next generation.