--- title: Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: When your hands are dirty or you have a cold, you explain and wave or smile instead, because nobody wants a sticky hand --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Handshakes, waves and greetings around… # Handshakes, waves and greetings around the world Lesson 124 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 20 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/). - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/1/) — When your hands are dirty or you have a cold, you explain and wave or smile instead, because nobody wants a sticky hand and germs spread through hands. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/2/) — Some people do not shake hands, for example for religious reasons; you never insist, and a smile, a nod or a hand on your heart is fine. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/3/) — Greetings differ around the world: people in Japan bow, adults in France, Italy and Spain often greet with cheek kisses, and in New Zealand people say "Kia ora" and may share a hongi, pressing noses and foreheads. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/4/) — A boy from Chicago in Dublin is asked "What's the craic?"; he learns it means "How are things?" and answers "Not much, and you?" - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/5/) — A good handshake is firm but not hard, for about two or three shakes. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/6/) — If your hand is dirty, wet or sticky, you say sorry and wave or smile instead. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/7/) — If you have a cold, you explain and wave instead of shaking hands, because germs spread through hands. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/8/) — After a match the teams shake hands and say "Good game", whether they won or lost. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/9/) — Some people do not shake hands, and you must respect that without insisting. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/10/) — A wave greets someone when you are too far away to talk. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/11/) — A wave from a stranger may be meant for someone behind you, and you never go over to a stranger. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/12/) — In English-speaking countries looking at a person's face while you talk shows you are listening and being honest. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/13/) — Many people in Japan bow to greet and to thank, and a small bow back is polite. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/14/) — In France, Italy and Spain adults often greet with cheek kisses, but a child may follow their lead or simply wave or shake hands. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/15/) — "Kia ora" is a Maori greeting used in New Zealand that means hello and good health. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/16/) — "How's it going?" from someone walking past is a greeting, and "Good, thanks!" is the expected answer. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/17/) — A boy in Ireland squeezed new classmates' hands as hard as he could to look strong; one girl's hand hurt and she told the teacher, who asked him to stop. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/18/) — A girl from Leeds on holiday in Japan walked into a home with her shoes on; the family was upset, and she felt embarrassed when her mum explained the custom. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/20/) — Customs differ between countries, and learning them before you visit avoids upsetting people. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/124-handshakes-waves-and-local-customs/21/) — In Japan, and in many homes elsewhere, people take their shoes off at the door, and guests do the same. - ← previous: [Greeting neighbours and new people](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/123-neighbours-and-new-people/) - next →: [More greetings and making introductions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/125-greetings-and-introductions/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)