Air kiss

An air kiss, blown kiss, or thrown kiss is a ritual or social gesture whose meaning is basically the same as that of many forms of kissing. The air kiss is a pretence of kissing: the lips are pursed as if kissing, but without actually touching the other person's body. Sometimes, the air kiss includes touching cheek-to-cheek. Also, the gesture may be accompanied by the mwah sound.^[1] The onomatopoeic word mwah (a representation of the sound of a kiss) has entered Webster's dictionary.^[2]

The character block Unicode 1F618 provides the "emoji face throwing a kiss 😘" to computer screens.

Western culture

A symbolic kiss is frequent in Western cultures. A kiss can be "blown" to another by kissing the fingertips and then blowing the fingertips, pointing them in the direction of the recipient. This is used to convey affection, usually when parting or when the partners are physically distant but can view each other. Blown kisses are also used when a person wishes to convey affection to a large crowd or audience. The term flying kiss is used in India to describe a blown kiss.

North America

In North America and most western countries influenced by North America, air kisses are sometimes associated with glamour models and other celebrities. It is a modified cheek kiss, involving kissing in the air near the cheek, with the cheeks touching the lips or not.^[3]

Southeast Asia

In Indonesia, and Malaysia, it is common to air-kiss an elder's hand as a traditional form of respectful greeting. Instead of pursing one's lips, the younger person exhaling through his nose softly on the hand before drawing the hand to the younger person's forehead.

In the Philippines, elder relatives traditionally kiss a younger relative's cheek in this same way, by exhaling gently through the nose when the younger relative's cheek is brought close.

References

^ "MWAH", the BBC programme Keep Your English up to Date
^ "Mwah in Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English
^ Marie Sophie Hahnsson. "Cheek Kissing". University of Oslo. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.

External links

"How to Air Kiss", a video

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[1] "MWAH", the BBC programme Keep Your English up to Date

[2] "Mwah in Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English

[UIO-kiss-3] Marie Sophie Hahnsson. "Cheek Kissing". University of Oslo. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.

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v t e Gestures
Friendly gestures	Air kiss Applause Cheek kiss Dap Elbow bump Eskimo kiss Finger heart Fist bump Forehead kiss Hand heart Handshake Hand wave High five Hongi ILY sign Kiss Liberian snap handshake Lip kiss Namaste OK Pinky swear Pound hug Shaka Thumb signal
Gestures of respect	Adab Añjali Mudrā Bow Canonical digits Curtsy Fist-and-palm Gadaw Genuflection Hand-kiss Hat tip Kowtow Kuji-in Mano Mudra Namaste Ojigi Orans Pranāma Prostration Sampeah Sembah Schwurhand Wai Zolgokh
Salutes	Bellamy salute Nazi salute Raised fist Roman salute Scout sign and salute Three-finger salute (Serbian) Three-finger salute (pro-democracy) Two-finger salute Vulcan salute Wolf salute Zogist salute
Celebratory gestures	Applause Crossed hands Fist pump High five Low five Victory clasp V sign
Finger-counting	Chinese number gestures Chisanbop Finger binary
Obscene gestures	Anasyrma Bras d'honneur Fig sign Middle finger Mooning Mountza Nazi salute Reversed V sign Shocker Sign of the horns Thumb/index-finger ring Wanker
Taunts	Akanbe Loser Talk to the hand
Head motions	Head bobble Head shake Nod
Other gestures	Air quotes Allergic salute Aussie salute Awkward turtle Che vuoi? Crossed fingers Distress signal Duterte fist Eyelid pull Facepalm Finger gun Gang signal Hand-in-waistcoat Hand rubbing Jazz hands Laban sign Merkel-Raute Pointing Pollice verso Shrug Sign of the cross (lesser sign of the cross)
Related	List of gestures Articulatory gestures Hand signals Manual communication Mudras Nonverbal communication Sign language