Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Farts and Unusual Salutes/Greetings

"Before they turned left-face along the bank each one gave their good captain a salute with farting tongue pressed tightly to his teeth, and he blew back with his bugle of an ass-hole." (Inferno 21.136)

The Malebranche devils have an interesting salute. What other unusual salutes/greetings exist around the world?

The most famous one would be the Vulcan salute, which was popularized by the 1960s television series Star Trek.

"Live long and prosper."
This salute was devised by Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the half-Vulcan character Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek television series. The White House referenced the gesture in its statement on Nimoy's death, calling it "the universal sign for 'Live long and prosper'."

Tibetan people stick their tongues out to greet people. The tradition originates from when an evil black-tongued 9th century king named Lang Darma ruled. People would have to prove they weren't the reincarnated king by sticking their tongues out to show it wasn't black.


The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and have a traditional greeting called Hongi. The greeting is performed by two individuals gently pressing their noses against each other.


In Botswana, people do a 3-step handshake.


The Maasai tribes of Kenya and Tanzania spit on each other as a greeting and as a huge sign of respect. But the younger tribesman must spit on their own hand before offering it to older members of the tribe.

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