{"id":53213,"date":"2014-06-12T01:07:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/aee\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:56:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:56:34","slug":"aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today you\u2019ll learn how to avoid embarrassing situations when you are not sure whether to hug, handshake, or wave.<\/p>\n<p>We had a question from a Chinese student.<\/p>\n<p>She wasn\u2019t sure how to greet American men.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s common for young American women or men to hug you as a greeting.<\/p>\n<p>This student can\u2019t hug a guy because of her culture.<\/p>\n<p>What should she do?<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/transcripts\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Presentation1-300x300.png\" alt=\"Presentation1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Presentation1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Presentation1-450x450.png 450w, https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Presentation1.png 832w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\"><\/a><strong>Get today\u2019s transcripts<\/strong>!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ready to use this episode to become fluent in English? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Make sure you understood every word we said on the podcast!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/transcripts\">Download the transcripts instantly!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here are some things to think about when you decide on a greeting:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where are you?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Who are you greeting?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>How close are you to the person?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>We usually don\u2019t hug people when we greet each other for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We shake hands when we meet someone for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>After spending a few hours with the person you can give the person a casual hug to say goodbye.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What should you do if this is strange in your culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Just give a \u201clight\u201d hug and keep it distant.<\/p>\n<p>Also try to watch the other person and follow their lead.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>It also depends on the location\/situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a formal situation we might not hug the person.<\/p>\n<p>Context is key.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t hug clients, colleagues, managers, bosses, students, etc.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t take it too seriously.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t tighten up if you aren\u2019t comfortable with the hug.<\/p>\n<p>Stick your hand out first to initiate the handshake to avoid the hug.<\/p>\n<p>You could also wave.<\/p>\n<p>This would be a good way to keep some distance between you and the other person and to avoid the hug.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-200\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Learn how to talk about money in American culture!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leave us a comment!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you ever been in an awkward hug situation? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What happened and how did you handle it? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Let us know in the comments below! We want to chat with you<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today you\u2019ll learn how to avoid embarrassing situations when you are not sure whether to hug, handshake, or wave. We had a question from a Chinese student. She wasn\u2019t sure how to greet American men. It\u2019s common for young American women or men to hug&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"category":[276,284,1,281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-culture","category-cultural-differences-in-business","category-english-fluency","category-understanding-americans"],"acf":{"podcast_link":"https:\/\/www.podtrac.com\/pts\/redirect.mp3\/pdst.fm\/e\/chrt.fm\/track\/CB27B5\/traffic.megaphone.fm\/ALLE4490277333.mp3?updated=1648612444"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Greet in American Culture- The Hug or the Handshake?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today&#039;s episode.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today&#039;s episode.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/allearsenglish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lindsay McMahon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@allearsenglish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@allearsenglish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lindsay McMahon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lindsay McMahon\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07440da024870639120f3c794e07c998\"},\"headline\":\"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\"},\"wordCount\":348,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"American Culture\",\"Cultural Differences in Business\",\"English Fluency\",\"Understanding Americans\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\",\"name\":\"How to Greet in American Culture- The Hug or the Handshake?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today's episode.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426,\"caption\":\"hug or handshake in American culture\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"All Ears English\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/All-Ears-English-Transcripts-9.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/All-Ears-English-Transcripts-9.png\",\"width\":208,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"All Ears English\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/allearsenglish\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/allearsenglish\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07440da024870639120f3c794e07c998\",\"name\":\"Lindsay McMahon\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Greet in American Culture- The Hug or the Handshake?","description":"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today's episode.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture","og_description":"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today's episode.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/allearsenglish","article_published_time":"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lindsay McMahon","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@allearsenglish","twitter_site":"@allearsenglish","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lindsay McMahon","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/"},"author":{"name":"Lindsay McMahon","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07440da024870639120f3c794e07c998"},"headline":"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture","datePublished":"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/"},"wordCount":348,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg","articleSection":["American Culture","Cultural Differences in Business","English Fluency","Understanding Americans"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/","url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/","name":"How to Greet in American Culture- The Hug or the Handshake?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg","datePublished":"2014-06-12T01:07:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-25T15:56:34+00:00","description":"Do you know how to greet people in American culture? Should you use the hug or the handshake? Find out in today's episode.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/hug-or-handshake-in-American-culture.jpg","width":640,"height":426,"caption":"hug or handshake in American culture"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-131-hug-handshake-greet-american-culture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AEE 131: The Hug or The Handshake &#8211; How to Greet in American Culture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/","name":"","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#organization","name":"All Ears English","url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/All-Ears-English-Transcripts-9.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/All-Ears-English-Transcripts-9.png","width":208,"height":300,"caption":"All Ears English"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/allearsenglish","https:\/\/x.com\/allearsenglish"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07440da024870639120f3c794e07c998","name":"Lindsay McMahon"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53213"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59745,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53213\/revisions\/59745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category?post=53213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}