Manners
When speaking to the elderly, or to strangers, Cubans speak more formally as a sign of respect. They shake hands upon both greeting and saying farewell to someone. Men often exchange friendly hugs (abrazos) and it is also common for both men and women to greet friends and family with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Informalities like addressing a stranger with 'mi corazón' (my heart), 'mi vida' (my life), or 'cariño' (dear) are common. "Mi amor" (my love) is used, even between strangers, when at least one of them is a woman (for example when being served in a shop).
Read more about this topic: Cuban Spanish
Famous quotes containing the word manners:
“... that’s what living happens to be ... the physiological denial of reverence and good manners and Christianity.... At your age one’s quite old enough to know what the essence of life really is. Shamelessness, that’s all; pure shamelessness.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The man who thrusts his manners upon me does as if he were to insist on introducing me to his cabinet of curiosities, when I wished to see himself.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Manners are of such great consequence to the novelist that any kind will do. Bad manners are better than no manners at all, and because we are losing our customary manners, we are probably overly conscious of them; this seems to be a condition that produces writers.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)