Until we had a highly contagious global pandemic to deal with, a number of countries around the world used the ‘two-kiss’ greeting.
You know the one – it usually catches you off guard when you’re confronted with someone from France, England, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia, Brazil (though, like France, the number of kisses can differ by region), and some Middle Eastern countries (though not between opposite sexes).
It’s all very complicated – look:
Getting that close to someone’s face is no longer an option, obviously. One of the ways to prevent coronavirus is to keep your distance from everyone, especially people with flu symptoms.
Which brings us to the new greeting.
In South Africa, we’ve adopted the elbow bump. It’s not just any elbow bump, though.
As the president demonstrated in his speech on Sunday night, we’re taking a French approach, and throwing in a double-tap.
Skip ahead to 54 seconds to see him in action:
Nice.
The double-tap elbow greeting has already taken off.
I’ll hand you over to The Kiffness:
Forget the fist-bump – this is here to stay.
Greet responsibly and stay safe out there, people.
