THE BOOK OF TELLS kisses were not the customary pecks on the cheek that one finds today - they were kisses on the lips! Most Europeans at the time considered this practice highly improper, and even the French (whom we now regard as a nation of great kissers) were scandalized by the English social habit of kissing on the lips. The English kissing custom started to decline during the sixteenth century, but it lasted up to the Restoration in 1660, when it was abandoned. At that point the English joined the league of non-kissing nations. However, over the past few decades things have started to change and social kissing is now making a serious comeback. The way that people kiss each other socially tells us a lot about what kind of people they are, their attitudes to each other, and how they feel about kissing. • HAND KISSES. Up until the last world war it was common for men in Europe to greet women by kissing their hand. This practice has disappeared among young people, but there are still some elderly men who have retained the custom of kissing women's hands when they meet them. • HEAD KISSES. Kissing someone on the forehead or the top of the head is another one-sided way of kissing people - it's how parents kiss their young children and it's also used as a form of benediction. If someone kisses you on the head it shows that they have a protective attitude towards you. • CHEEK KISSES. Social kisses typically consist of kisses on the cheek. In countries where the convention is 184
GREETING TELLS established, everybody knows which side to start and how many kisses to exchange. In countries like the US, the UK and Australia, where kissing customs are still evolving, people are often unsure about which cheek to kiss first, and how many times they should kiss the other person. • VACUUM KISSES. When people ostensibly kiss each other on the cheek they sometimes miss the target altogether and end up kissing the air instead. These 'vacuum kisses' fall into two types - 'missed kisses', where the parties' cheeks touch but their lips don't connect with the other person's cheek, and 'air kisses', where they go through the motions without making any physical contact at all. Air kisses appear when people are uncomfortable about physical contact, and both types of vacuum kiss are common among women who don't want to disturb their make-up or leave traces of lipstick on the other person. • FEIGNED KISSES. If you watch people kissing socially, you'll notice that there are some people who press their cheek against the other person's without even pursing their lips, let alone kissing the air. These 'feigned kisses' pretend to be real kisses but they don't offer anything more than the cheek. They tend to be produced by people who are passive by nature, and who would rather be kissed by somebody than have to kiss them. The interesting thing about a feigned kiss is that the other person doesn't usually notice it - it's only people nearby who see what's really happening. 185
AS SEEN ON TV Fell is an action tha
Also by Peter Collett Foreign Bodie
THE BOOK OF TELLS A BANTAM BOOK: 0
Contents Acknowledgements 1 Tells 2
Spiecker, Martine Stewart, Michael
THE BOOK OF TELLS purpose other tha
THE BOOK OF TELLS lay false trails.
THE BOOK OF TELLS recognize as tell
THE BOOK OF TELLS often identify th
THE BOOK OF TELLS look out for micr
THE BOOK OF TELLS Similarly, when w
THE BOOK OF TELLS Counterfeit tells
THE BOOK OF TELLS sign of helplessn
THE BOOK OF TELLS reasonably assume
THE BOOK OF TELLS pre-emptive prope
THE BOOK OF TELLS own actions - it'
THE BOOK OF TELLS don't even know t
2. Dominant Tells When we meet peop
THE BOOK OF TELLS of the need to 'r
THE BOOK OF TELLS about how importa
THE BOOK OF TELLS stance than women
THE BOOK OF TELLS the 'crotch-yank'
THE BOOK OF TELLS Because they conv
THE BOOK OF TELLS one where the int
THE BOOK OF TELLS Superficially all
THE BOOK OF TELLS much more likely
THE BOOK OF TELLS how the eyes are
THE BOOK OF TELLS an air of perpetu
THE BOOK OF TELLS Yawning Tells Eve
THE BOOK OF TELLS adult males than
THE BOOK OF TELLS speech style so a
THE BOOK OF TELLS attempting to be
THE BOOK OF TELLS Looking round the
THE BOOK OF TELLS talkative and inf
THE BOOK OF TELLS things that appea
THE BOOK OF TELLS elongated and the
THE BOOK OF TELLS appeasement. Cons
THE BOOK OF TELLS reduces the threa
THE BOOK OF TELLS substitution tell
THE BOOK OF TELLS Head Tells Charle
THE BOOK OF TELLS to identify how t
THE BOOK OF TELLS to find ways of l
THE BOOK OF TELLS lifting the visor
THE BOOK OF TELLS completed what he
THE BOOK OF TELLS point out that wh
THE BOOK OF TELLS the resulting exp
THE BOOK OF TELLS opinions about bl
THE BOOK OF TELLS unexpected and un
THE BOOK OF TELLS several minutes,
THE BOOK OF TELLS true, boss, you w
THE BOOK OF TELLS • SIMPLIFYING.
4. Conversation Tells The most obvi
THE BOOK OF TELLS As we saw in the
THE BOOK OF TELLS you started talki
THE BOOK OF TELLS talk. Interrupter
THE BOOK OF TELLS to eliminate the
THE BOOK OF TELLS a way that minimi
THE BOOK OF TELLS the speaker does
THE BOOK OF TELLS 'place-dropping'
THE BOOK OF TELLS Before you've had
THE BOOK OF TELLS used to show that
THE BOOK OF TELLS THE STRADDLE STAN
THE BOOK OF TELLS movement to depar
THE BOOK OF TELLS when you consider
THE BOOK OF TELLS Hair Tells One of
THE BOOK OF TELLS up the stairs so
ANXIETY TELLS suddenly, to last lon
ANXIETY TELLS the amount of time th
ANXIETY TELLS being noticed, but be
ANXIETY TELLS linguists call 'funda
ANXIETY TELLS as to their desire to
SEXUAL TELLS 'primary sexual charac
SEXUAL TELLS between courtship sign
SEXUAL TELLS animated, while the ma
SEXUAL TELLS • SCANNING. People m
SEXUAL TELLS are in the middle of t
SEXUAL TELLS attractive man she can
SEXUAL TELLS Flirting Tells Flirtin
SEXUAL TELLS Leg Tells Women also t
SEXUAL TELLS The last time I saw th
SEXUAL TELLS the way that young peo
SEXUAL TELLS been recognized. Writi
SEXUAL TELLS the sixteenth century,
SEXUAL TELLS Touching Tells Courtsh
SEXUAL TELLS watch Hugh Grant on sc
SEXUAL TELLS voice is big and muscu
SEXUAL TELLS were keen to get toget
SEXUAL TELLS have shown that people
SEXUAL TELLS In contrast to the sig
SEXUAL TELLS don't have the resourc
SEXUAL TELLS mean anything. The oth
LYING TELLS when they're given a pr
LYING TELLS in their ability to det
LYING TELLS • MULTIPLE CAUSES. Pe
LYING TELLS speed up. In this kind
LYING TELLS There is, however, a su
LYING TELLS The Mouth-cover is an i
LYING TELLS Smiling Tells Of all th
LYING TELLS Micro-tells When people
LYING TELLS the eyes bulging and th
LYING TELLS SMOKESCREENS. Liars oft
LYING TELLS work involved in produc
11. Foreign Tells When people speak
FOREIGN TELLS Action Tells Shibbole
FOREIGN TELLS with a very light gri
FOREIGN TELLS around. If he's serio
FOREIGN TELLS side of the mouth are
FOREIGN TELLS always talking, wheth
FOREIGN TELLS Conversation Tells. I
FOREIGN TELLS distance, simply by o
FOREIGN TELLS expansive movements,
FOREIGN TELLS 'Take two!' or 'Go ha
FOREIGN TELLS more gesturally expre
SMOKING TELLS us a great deal about
SMOKING TELLS differ - most notably
SMOKING TELLS The 'straight-leg hol
SMOKING TELLS Gender is displayed i
SMOKING TELLS There are several rea
SMOKING TELLS smoke around her face
SMOKING TELLS waving his cigarette
SMOKING TELLS cigarette and being w
SMOKING TELLS smoking simply provid
13. Tell-tales You're going to work
TELL-TALES present man behind in hi
TELL-TALES host greeted you effusiv
TELL-TALES allowing them instead to
TELL-TALES chapters have shown that
Notes 1. Tells 1 Caro, M. (1994) Th
NOTES 5 Tremblay, R. E., Schaal, B.
NOTES 27 Henley, N. (2001) 'Body po
NOTES Human Facial Expression, edit
NOTES 9 Duncan, S. (1972) 'Some sig
NOTES 12 Schegloff, E. A. (1989) 'F
NOTES Instrumentation, 1, 203-7; Be
NOTES female attractiveness and des
NOTES Therapy, 15(4), 271-82. 28 Pe
NOTES salespersons and customers be
NOTES 8 Zeldin, T. (1988) The Frenc
NOTES effects of cigarette smoking
THE BOOK OF TELLS Atkinson, Max, Ou
THE BOOK OF TELLS compatibility 276
THE BOOK OF TELLS flattery 99-103 f
THE BOOK OF TELLS Hitler, Adolf 26,
THE BOOK OF TELLS men sexual signal
THE BOOK OF TELLS relaxation 46, 69
THE BOOK OF TELLS thighs, pressed t