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Cross-Cultural Handshake

138 statements
25 feature instances
12 referencing feature instances

Cross-Cultural Handshake	type	FeatureClass
Cross-Cultural Handshake	label	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake	page	CrossCulturalHandshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake	comment	If shaking hands isn't a culture-specific habit, it sure seems like it ought to be. So Science Fiction authors who are trying to be clever will come up with some other gesture for alien cultures to use for the same purpose. The trouble is, shaking hands probably developed to its present form because it's a darned convenient thing for our human bodies to do. Obviously, other species have other ways of greeting each other, but the Media Watchdog would never let you show humanoids sniffing others genitalia. There are cultural differences in the way various groups go about the whole handshaking thing, but these are fairly subtle and the TV audience might not notice. Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })As a result, it seems like a lot of aliens shake hands by grasping each other's forearms, which is actually an old Earth method of shaking hands, by showing that you have no weapons in your sleeves, as a display of trust. Compare Crazy Cultural Comparison. Misjudging this can lead to Greeting Gesture Confusion. Examples:
Cross-Cultural Handshake	fetched	2022-07-17T16:41:27Z
Cross-Cultural Handshake	parsed	2022-07-17T16:41:27Z
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingComment	Dropped link to Defied: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingComment	Dropped link to NietzscheWannabe: Not an Item - FEATURE
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingComment	Dropped link to OurSoulsAreDifferent: Not an Item - FEATURE
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingComment	Dropped link to RealLife: Not an Item - FEATURE
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingComment	Dropped link to SingleBiomePlanet: Not an Item - FEATURE
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingUnknown	Defied
Cross-Cultural Handshake	isPartOf	DBTropes
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_1b6759eb	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_1b6759eb	comment	Ultronians in My Hero (2000) shake elbows while reciting "Sneet snader sneet"...
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_1b6759eb	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_1b6759eb	featureConfidence	1.0
My Hero (2000)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_1b6759eb
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_2925187f	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_2925187f	comment	In The Conquerors Trilogy, the aliens have poisonous tongues (which are also capable of being used as slicing weapons). They greet each other by cutting up a fruit with their tongues which neutralizes their poison. Damn intimidating the first time a human prisoner sees them do this. Worse, the human was expected to follow suit... or at least do his best. Interestingly, when the human showed he was plainly unable to do it, the alien captor much preferred his honesty to another species which tried to mimic the tongue-slice, even though said species couldn't do it either.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_2925187f	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_2925187f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Conquerors Trilogy	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_2925187f
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_353bdeb0	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_353bdeb0	comment	The Humanx Commonwealth series by Alan Dean Foster: The Ickiest Handshake trophy surely belongs to the Sakuntala from Drowning World. These monkey-like aliens have extremely long tongues like an anteater's and respectfully greet each other by wrapping their tongues around one another's faces. Furthermore while they understand that humans aren't physically equipped to do that, most are offended if a human won't at least touch tongue-tips with them. An un-squicky variant from the same Verse would be the Tran practice of breathing in each other's faces, to share precious warmth on their inhospitable ice world.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_353bdeb0	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_353bdeb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Humanx Commonwealth	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_353bdeb0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_35a060cc	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_35a060cc	comment	Parodied, like most things, in Airplane! when Ted Stryker, upon meeting the African tribesmen he and Elaine would be working with for their time in the Peace Corps, teaches them how to shake hands. And then the chief raises both his hands to address his tribe and Ted double high fives him, only to get promptly punched in the face.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_35a060cc	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_35a060cc	featureConfidence	1.0
Airplane!	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_35a060cc
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_36ee2abe	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_36ee2abe	comment	In Paranoia, all secret society groups have handshakes or handshake equivalents. The fun part is that most of these handshakes start off in a very similar manner...
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_36ee2abe	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_36ee2abe	featureConfidence	1.0
Paranoia (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_36ee2abe
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_3f4a104b	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_3f4a104b	comment	Parodied in one Dilbert strip where Ratbert attempts to infiltrate a gang of elves who have been terrorizing Dilbert. They ask for the secret handshake and he performs a ridiculous pose with his arms waving and his head sticking out from between his legs. One elf replies that he's wrong but it's "one heckuva good guess".
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_3f4a104b	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_3f4a104b	featureConfidence	1.0
Dilbert (Comic Strip)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_3f4a104b
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_49a0a477	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_49a0a477	comment	In Snow Crash the customary greeting in the Metaverse is bowing, not shaking hands; the Metaverse is a visual-only virtual reality so actually touching another avatar is impossible.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_49a0a477	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_49a0a477	featureConfidence	1.0
Snow Crash	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_49a0a477
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_594dcfbe	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_594dcfbe	comment	In Galaxy High, when Doyle and Aimee first met Milo de Venus, they didn't know which hands they're supposed to shake, as Milo has three arms on each side. Milo just told them to shake all hands.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_594dcfbe	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_594dcfbe	featureConfidence	1.0
Galaxy High	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_594dcfbe
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_5d354f8	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_5d354f8	comment	Parodied in Red Dwarf; Kryten and the GELF leader present their hands as if to shake hands but instead reach past each other's hands and grab the other's ankles and then bounce up and down on their other legs.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_5d354f8	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_5d354f8	featureConfidence	1.0
Red Dwarf	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_5d354f8
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_62aa95a6	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_62aa95a6	comment	In The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier, the 'spider-wolves' have a form of greeting that's basically a hug. To the relief of the humans working with them, they find us just as physically unpleasant as we find them, and after the first formal meeting they get into the habit of greeting humans with 'air hugs' involving no physical contact.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_62aa95a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_62aa95a6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Lost Fleet	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_62aa95a6
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_70814599	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_70814599	comment	The Jaffa and Tok'ra of Stargate SG-1 both do the forearm shake.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_70814599	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_70814599	featureConfidence	1.0
Stargate SG-1	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_70814599
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_75149ccd	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_75149ccd	comment	Not actually done in X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar, but discussed:
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_75149ccd	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_75149ccd	featureConfidence	1.0
X-Wing Series	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_75149ccd
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_80da97a8	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_80da97a8	comment	The Boxtrolls rather adorably slap their hands on their boxes when they're happy.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_80da97a8	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_80da97a8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Boxtrolls	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_80da97a8
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_81692f99	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_81692f99	comment	Star Trek: Vulcans have their own distinctive salute which is used in lieu of a handshake (palm out, index and ring fingers separated, which Leonard Nimoy adapted from a Jewish gesture of blessing). Some Fanon suggests that, as Vulcans are touch-telepaths, shaking hands would seem excessively intimate to them. While Star Trek: Enterprise makes this interpretation unlikely, it has some support in the fact that a second form of greeting, involving the touching of the fingertips, is occasionally seen only between family members. A couple of other quick Star Trek examples: Cardassians have been shown to press their palms together to say goodbye to each other, but it only showed up a couple of times. Bajorans didn't have a weird handshake, but they did have a weird clap: they (and several other races, including the Wadi) applauded with the back of one hand to the other palm instead of palms together. Bajoran vedeks have a habit of randomly walking up to a Bajoran and grasping their left ear (the right ear is covered by an elaborate earring) to feel their pagh. In one EU novel, Ro Laren reveals that this is the reason she wears her earring on the left ear - she hates it when they do that. Cardassians also had a weird clap; in one scene with Bajorans and Cardassians attending a speech by Gul Dukat, the Bajorans gave the clap mentioned above (as usual), while the Cardassians drummed their hands on the table. Klingons occasionally do the forearm-shake.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_81692f99	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_81692f99	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Trek (Franchise)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_81692f99
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_90aa1b05	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_90aa1b05	comment	Parodied in Hyperdrive when some aliens want to rub their genitals against the humans, who quickly realise this isn't a strange greeting ritual — they've just made First Contact with a bunch of perverts.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_90aa1b05	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_90aa1b05	featureConfidence	1.0
Hyperdrive	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_90aa1b05
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_96b4f4ab	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_96b4f4ab	comment	The Undertale Fan Fic Visiontale, posted on Archive of Our Own, has the Inertia Society handshake, where the two participants press their palms, or palm-equivalents, together.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_96b4f4ab	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_96b4f4ab	featureConfidence	1.0
Undertale (Video Game)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_96b4f4ab
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_9b891ef2	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_9b891ef2	comment	The aliens from Scary Movie 3 greet each other by getting the person they're greeting in a choke hold. They say goodbye with a Groin Attack.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_9b891ef2	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_9b891ef2	featureConfidence	1.0
Scary Movie	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_9b891ef2
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_a183d57f	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_a183d57f	comment	The Futurama episode "Mars University" had Bender discovering a chapter of his old robot fraternity and being asked to do the secret handshake to prove it. Said handshake involved both robots locking hands and then snaking their telescoping arms in ludicrous fashion, ending by spinning their wrists so fast it generates a miniature nova. And Bender accidentally takes one of the other guy's fingers in the process.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_a183d57f	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_a183d57f	featureConfidence	1.0
Futurama	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_a183d57f
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_b5a087d7	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_b5a087d7	comment	One Robot Chicken sketch involves members of the Alpha Psi fraternity meeting up and immediately performing their secret handshake which is very complicated and involves loads of bodily harm.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_b5a087d7	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_b5a087d7	featureConfidence	1.0
Robot Chicken	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_b5a087d7
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_c51fbda2	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_c51fbda2	comment	The Plutarkian Traditional Greeting from Biker Mice from Mars: stand facing away from each other and then bend over to present the buttocks. Rub your buttocks against those of your compatriot whilst chanting "cheek to cheek, and stink to stink, as Plutark rules, the galaxy shrinks!" and then shake the head rapidly from side to side whilst whooping before standing up and making three armpit-farts. The main antagonist Lawrence Limburger is embarrassed by it in spite of being a Plutarkian himself.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_c51fbda2	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_c51fbda2	featureConfidence	1.0
Biker Mice from Mars	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_c51fbda2
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d109f322	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d109f322	comment	Andromeda: Civilized peoples do the forearm shake. Nietzscheans hold their forearms together to form a double-helix. Curiously, this leaves their other hand out of sight of the other guy, making it easy to pull a weapon. Given their survivalist nature, this makes perfect sense.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d109f322	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d109f322	featureConfidence	1.0
Andromeda	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d109f322
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d54b59cc	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d54b59cc	comment	In Demolition Man, handshaking has evolved into a curious formal wave due to an increasing aversion to physical contact. When Spartan greets a fellow officer by grabbing his hand, the officer is visibly shocked by the intimacy.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d54b59cc	featureApplicability	-1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d54b59cc	featureConfidence	1.0
Demolition Man	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_d54b59cc
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_dbb6bdf2	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_dbb6bdf2	comment	...which is no less ridiculous than Mork's "Na-Nu Na-Nu" and hand gesture from Mork & Mindy.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_dbb6bdf2	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_dbb6bdf2	featureConfidence	1.0
Mork & Mindy	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_dbb6bdf2
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_e25322af	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_e25322af	comment	Homestar Runner: The series once showed Homestar and the King of Town demonstrate a secret handshake. Neither of them have arms. Later Strong Bad and The Cheat do it and theirs is similarly devoid of armic activity.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_e25322af	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_e25322af	featureConfidence	1.0
Homestar Runner (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_e25322af
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_f74b5f80	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_f74b5f80	comment	Babylon 5: The Centauri do a double forearm-shake. Which like a lot of their culture, is similar to late Roman tradition. The Narn occasionally do a similar gesture though with just one hand; there is also their closed fists to chest gesture, which seems to be more formal. Sometimes the Narns also roll their fists around each other before making that gesture though this mostly seems to occur during the first season; possibly it was deemed looking slightly silly.
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_f74b5f80	featureApplicability	1.0
Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_f74b5f80	featureConfidence	1.0
Babylon 5	hasFeature	Cross-Cultural Handshake / int_f74b5f80

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingCategory2	Hand Tropes
Cross-Cultural Handshake	processingCategory2	Speculative Fiction Tropes
Interstella 5555 / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
MortonhaylesCTParody	seeAlso	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Mortonhayle's CT Parody (Fanfic) / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
The Smeet Series (Fanfic) / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Visiontale (Fanfic) / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Scary Movie / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Boku wa Ookami (Manga) / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
Paranoia (Tabletop Game) / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
FernGully: The Last Rainforest / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake
The Boxtrolls / int_2b8f75da	type	Cross-Cultural Handshake

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