Editing Greeting (section)

===Kisses===
[[File:Denis Thatcher Nancy Reagan 1988.jpg|thumb|[[Denis Thatcher]], husband of former [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Margaret Thatcher]], greets former American [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] by [[hand-kissing|kissing her hand]], 1988.]]
In Europe, the formal style of upper-class greeting used by a man to a woman in the [[Early Modern Period]] was to hold the woman's presented hand (usually the right) with his right hand and kiss it while bowing. In cases of a low degree of intimacy, the hand is held but not kissed. The ultra-formal style, with the man's right knee on the floor, is now only used in marriage proposals, as a romantic gesture.

[[Cheek kissing]] is common in Europe, parts of Canada (Quebec) and Latin America and has become a standard greeting mainly in Southern Europe but also in some Central European countries.

While cheek kissing is a common greeting in many cultures, each country has a unique way of kissing. In Russia, Poland, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Iran and Egypt it is customary to "kiss three times, on alternate cheeks".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/hga/GAW97/greeting.html |title=Greetings Lesson |publisher=Hawaii.edu |access-date=2011-01-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604234558/http://www.hawaii.edu/hga/GAW97/greeting.html |archive-date=2011-06-04 }}</ref> Italians, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanians, Bosnia-and-Herzegovinans usually kiss twice in a greeting and in Mexico and Belgium only one kiss is necessary. In the Galapagos women kiss on the right cheek only<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.galapagosonline.com/predeparture/predeparture_information.htm |title=Galapagos FAQs Preparing for your trip |publisher=Galapagosonline.com |access-date=2011-01-27}}</ref> and in Oman, it is not unusual for men to kiss one another on the nose after a handshake.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brucevanpatter.com/world_greetings.html |title=Greetings in other cultures |publisher=Brucevanpatter.com |access-date=2011-01-27 |archive-date=2018-07-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715095741/http://brucevanpatter.com/world_greetings.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> French culture accepts a number of ways to greet depending on the region. Two kisses are most common throughout all of France but in [[Provence]] three kisses are given and in Nantes four are exchanged.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa051801f.htm |title=Faire la bise - French Gestures |publisher=French.about.com |date=2011-01-02 |access-date=2011-01-27 |archive-date=2015-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319172134/http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa051801f.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, in Finistère at the western tip of Brittany and Deux-Sèvres in the Poitou-Charentes region, one kiss is preferred.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bigthink.com/ideas/21262 |title=210 French Kissing Map |publisher=Frank Jacobs |date=2007-12-02 |access-date=2012-01-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://grammarchecker.online/email-greetings/ |title=Email greetings. |publisher=Alex |date=2019-10-31 |access-date=2019-10-27}}</ref>