The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

THE BOOK OF TELLS
• VOCALIZED KISSES. Some kisses on the cheek are silent,
while others include an audible smack of the lips. Other
kisses are accompanied by loud vocalizations like
'mwah!' Sometimes these sound like signs of appreciation,
and on other occasions they come across as
something of a joke. But, in spite of the exaggeration and
the laughter that accompanies them, these sounds are
actually signs of discomfort being made by people who
want to distance themselves from the kiss by mocking it.
People who are totally at ease with social kissing - like
the Italians or the French - don't accompany their kisses
with vocalizations. It's only those who are self-conscious
about social kissing - like the British - who find it
necessary to exaggerate and accompany their kisses with
loud noises. It's their way of drawing attention to the kiss
so that they can disown it.
Name Tells
When people meet for the first time they usually introduce
themselves or someone else introduces them. Selfintroductions
are fairly straightforward - they can occur at
the beginning of an encounter or some time after people
have struck up a conversation. An introduction performed
by someone else tends to be a bit more complicated
because the introducer has to orchestrate the meeting,
name the people being introduced (the introducees), and
possibly say something about them.
When introducers describe or 'package' introducees,
they need to perform three tasks - firstly, they need to
legitimize the introduction, secondly they need to say
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