# to shake hands



## Ilmo

In English, you normally *shake hands* with a person you meet.
You can also:
*clasp* a person's hand
*press* a person's hand
*squeeze* a person's hand
but these expressions have a bit different shades of meaning, I suppose.

*How are you doing it in other languages?*

In *Finnish* there is a general verb *kätellä*, that means aproximately "to greet with hand".
We can also say *antaa kättä* (to give hand) but that we say usually to too shy children or to our pets.
Besides, we can *puristaa *(jonkun)* kättä *(to press a person's hand)
And of course there is also *kultainen kädenpuristus* (golden handshake) that is so important nowadays.
*But we don't shake!*

In *Swedish*
*Skaka hand* med någon (literally to shake hand with a person)
*Trycka någons hand* (till hälsning) (literally to press a person's hand)

In *Spanish*
*Dar la mano al saludar* (to give hand when greeting)
*Saludar de mano* (to greet by hand)
*Apretar la mano* (to press a person's hand)
*Estrechar la mano* (to press a person's hand)
...but no shaking, ningunas sacudidas!!!


----------



## Honour

In Turkish, we squeeze hands (el sıkmak) or use verb "tokalaşmak".
Toka means hair grip/clip. I believe it has an archaic meaning or idiomatic usage. Tokalaşmak literally means "to do clip to each other" or something similar to it.


----------



## doman

Ilmo said:


> In English, you normally *shake hands* with a person you meet.
> You can also:
> *clasp* a person's hand
> *press* a person's hand
> *squeeze* a person's hand
> but these expressions have a bit different shades of meaning, I suppose.


 
In Vietnamese, we translated "*shake hands*" to "*bắt tay*", but meaning in Vietnamese's a little funny, "catch hands".

Vietnamese

Shake hands - *bắt tay*
Clasp a person's hand - *siết tay *
Press a person's hand - *nắm tay*
squeeze a person's hand - *siết chặt tay*


----------



## irene.acler

In *Italian*:
stringersi la mano/le mani (to shake hands)
darsi la mano (to give hand when greeting)
salutare con la mano (to greet by hand).


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Ilmo said:


> In *Spanish*
> *Dar la mano al saludar* (to give hand when greeting)
> *Saludar de mano* (to greet by hand)
> *Apretar la mano* (to press a person's hand) *--> ???*
> *Estrechar la mano* (to press a person's hand)
> ...but no shaking, ningunas sacudidas!!!


Pretty good!  Pero no apretamos la mano (press sb's hand), sino que *damos* un apretón de mano*s* (give sb a hand-press  Odd!   )

The rest is more than perfect.    And you're right, ninguna sacudida!


----------



## Christhiane

In Norwegian you 'hand greet' (håndhilser).

You can also 'take someone in the hand' ('ta noen i hånden'), but that's usually to seal a deal.


----------



## badgrammar

In French, "se serrer la main", the "se" is there because it indicates it is something people are doing to eachother.
Or you can say "serrer la main à quelqu'un", and you don't need the "se" because there is an indirect object (?) which is "a quelqu'un" (lit: to someone).

To me, serrer is closest to the idea of "squeezing".  I can't think of any other ways of saying it, perhaps "Se donner la pogne/la patte" (to give your  "paw") in slang, and even then I think you would use "serrer" not donner.


----------



## Aleco

*Norwegian*
*Håndhilse* --> 'Hand-greet'

And that's the only way I can think of...


----------



## VivaReggaeton88

There is a literal verb in Spanish "to shake/to roll over/to turn" = "Voltear".

Voltéame la mano. = Shake my hand (friendly)

I'm not sure if native speakers use it that way.​


----------



## Etcetera

Right now I can think about just two expressions in Russian.
To shake hands = Пож*а*ть р*у*ки / Pozh*a*t' r*u*ki
To exchange handshakes = Обмен*я*ться рукопож*а*тиями / Obmen*ya*t'sya rukopozh*a*tiyami. 
Maybe other Russian natives will remember more.


----------



## Ilmo

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Pretty good! Pero no apretamos la mano (press sb's hand), sino que *damos* un apretón de mano*s* (give sb a hand-press  Odd!  )
> 
> The rest is more than perfect.  And you're right, ninguna sacudida!


 
Gracias, Sweetie, estoy siempre agradecido por cualquier corrección,
Puedo hacer el correspondiente cambio en mi diccionario eletrónico personal, pero desgraciadamente The Advanced Español-Inglés VOX me da la siguiente fraseología:
*FRASEOLOGÍA*
*apretar a correr* to start running
*apretar el paso* to quicken one's pace
*apretar la mano a alguien* to shake somebody's hand
*apretar el gatillo* to pull the trigger

Así que me quedo esperando que también otros foreros de otros países hispanohablantes me confirmen, que no se puede apretar la mano a alguien tampoco en su país.


----------



## Thomas1

In Polish we say:
podać sobie ręce - to pass each other arms 
uścisnąć sobie dłonie - to squeeze one another's hands

Tom


----------



## Venezuelan_sweetie

Ilmo said:


> ...Así que me quedo esperando que también otros foreros de otros países hispanohablantes me confirmen, que no se puede apretar la mano a alguien tampoco en su país.


Fair enough.    Let's hear what others say.


----------



## Chazzwozzer

Honour said:


> In Turkish, we squeeze hands (el sıkmak) or use verb "tokalaşmak".
> Toka means hair grip/clip. I believe it has an archaic meaning or idiomatic usage. Tokalaşmak literally means "to do clip to each other" or something similar to it.


Indeed, *toka*_(Archaic form: toku)_, the hair clip, is a Turkic word. But I guess we're talking about not that toka, but this, which has been borrowed from Italian _*tocco*_. _*(toccare - to touch)*_


----------



## pejeman

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> There is a literal verb in Spanish "to shake/to roll over/to turn" = "Voltear".​
> Voltéame la mano. = Shake my hand (friendly)​
> I'm not sure if native speakers use it that way.​



Hola:

Lo de "voltéame la mano" nunca lo he oído en México. Sí se dice "le volteó un manazo", meaning "he slapped his face"

Saludos.


----------



## krolaina

Ilmo said:


> In *Spanish*
> *Dar la mano al saludar* (to give hand when greeting)
> *Saludar de mano* (to greet by hand)
> *Apretar la mano* (to press a person's hand)
> *Estrechar la mano* (to press a person's hand)
> ...but no shaking, ningunas sacudidas!!!



Yo estoy con el "apretón de manos" de VS. Aquí nos damos la mano y nos estrechamos la mano (que es lo más común), pero no entiendo muy bien lo de "saludar de mano" (¿le dices hola a la mano de otro?)
Claro que también "chocamos la mano" (como un "give me 5").

Although I´d rather a couple of good kisses! Muak-muak.


----------



## pejeman

Venezuelan_sweetie said:


> Fair enough.  Let's hear what others say.


 
Sí le puedes apretar la mano a alguien, como cuando juegas a las vencidas, pero en México no lo usamos para referirnos al acto de saludarnos de mano. Decimos, como indicó sweetie, "darse un apretón de manos".

También puedes apretarle a alguien la mano, como cuando mi señora me aprieta la mano discreta pero enérgicamente, para indicarme que no quiere que me vaya con mis amigotes y la deje sola. 

Saludos.


----------



## Mate

De manos trata este hilo
Y una mano vine a dar.
A Don Ilmo, el finlandés,
¿Quién se la puede negar?

"Un apretón" es correcto.
"Dar la mano" también lo es.
Pero "apretar una mano"
Suena mal hasta los piés.

Y ándese con cuidado Don Ilmo, que si un gaucho le llega a apretar la mano en lugar de darle o estrecharle la mano, de seguro se va a acordar de la madre del que escribió _The Advanced Español-Inglés VOX_ y ya imagino la _fraseología_ que va Usté a emplear para referirse a esa santa inocente  .

Un afectuoso saludo - Mateamargo


----------



## Outsider

In Portuguese, you can say: 

_apertar a mão_ *to press/squeeze the hand*
_dar a mão_ *to give one's hand*
_dar a mãozada / dar um aperto de mão_ *to give the/a handshake* (There's a different term for "handshake" in Brazil which I forget.)



Ilmo said:


> And of course there is also *kultainen kädenpuristus* (golden handshake) that is so important nowadays.


What is a golden handshake?


----------



## krolaina

Outsider said:


> What is a golden handshake?


 
A large sum received from an employer on retirement or in compensation for compulsory redundancy


----------



## Outsider

Oh! Excellent turn of phrase.


----------



## krolaina

Sí, jaja. It isn´t mine! (shhhhh.... it´s a secret.)


----------



## heidita

VivaReggaeton88 said:


> Voltéame la mano. = Shake my hand (friendly)



Esto es muy gracioso, pero en España no se entendería.



krolaina said:


> Yo estoy con el "apretón de manos" de VS. Aquí nos damos la mano y nos estrechamos la mano (que es lo más común), *pero no entiendo muy bien lo de "saludar de mano"* (¿le dices hola a la mano de otro?)
> Claro que también "chocamos la mano" (como un "give me 5").



En efecto, lo de *apretar la mano* (sí se puede decir por ejemplo para asegurarle a alguien su apoyo o algo así, en un hospital..) no se usa para saludar. Tampoco lo de *saludar con la mano*. Tal caso podría decirse de lejos. O sea, desde un tren, saludar con la mano.

*En alemán:*

*die Hand geben (give hands)
die Hand schütteln (shake hands)
mit einem Handschlag grüßen (greet with a handshake)*


----------



## Ptak

*Russian more:*

Подать руку / Подать друг другу руки (give hands)
Пожать руку/руки (shake hands)
Поздороваться за руку/руки (greet with a handshake)


----------



## Nanon

In French, you may also say (donner) une poignée de mains (= a handshake). Litterally it would be  ***a handle of hands .

In French slang, another variant is "se serrer la louche" (a big soup spoon, also slang for hand). I agree with badgrammar about the use of the verb "to squeeze". You don't use the verb "to shake" (secouer), but you do shake and some people do squeeze (ouch!)

Etcetera and Ptak, I wonder if "жму руку" is used to express not only a greeting or good-bye but also congratulations?


----------



## Jeedade

Dutch:
de hand schudden (shake the hand)
een hand geven (give a hand)


----------



## Nanon

krolaina said:


> Yo estoy con el "apretón de manos" de VS. Aquí nos damos la mano y nos estrechamos la mano (que es lo más común), pero no entiendo muy bien lo de "saludar de mano" (¿le dices hola a la mano de otro?)
> Claro que también "chocamos la mano" (como un "give me 5").
> 
> Although I´d rather a couple of good kisses! Muak-muak.


 
Me too!!!  
However all depends on cultural habits. In a business context, I give kisses and hugs in Brazil )), I shake hands in France unless I know the person very well, and in Russia I make eye contact and I don't shake hands very often (if I do know the person very well, however, we may kiss). With Asians I bow, etc...
To get back to the topic  , the way to say that you shake hands might also reflect these cultural habits.


----------



## univerio

Chinese: 握手 (squeeze hand)


----------



## Maja

In Serbian:

*Rukovati se* (reflexive verb)  - translates as "to shake hands". It doesn't have lit. translation, although it  has the word "ruka" (hand) in its root. 
However, the verb "*rukovati*"  (non-reflexive) means "to operate/ run; to handle".


----------



## Whodunit

In German "you *give* someone the hand:"

jemandem die Hand *geben* (Ich *gebe* dir die Hand.)

However, it is also possible to say "jemandem die Hand *schütteln*" (*shake*) and "jemandem die Hand *drücken*" (*press*).

The noun "*shake* of hands" is called "Hande*schütteln*" in German.


----------



## linguist786

This is interesting, As a Muslim, I would intuitively translate "to greet somebody" as:

_salaam karnaa_ (*Urdu/Hindi*)
_salaam karvuN_ (*Gujarati*)
(lit. "to do salaam")

which comes from the Muslim greeting "As-salaamu-alaykum". If we want to say "to shake hands" we would say:

_haath se salaam karnaa_ (*Urdu/Hindi*)
_haath thi salaam karvuN_ (*Gujarati*)
(lit. "to do salaam using the hands")

I wouldn't know how to translate "to shake hands" otherwise. 
After checking in a Gujarati dictionary, I found a long-winded explanation:

સંકેત તરીકે એકબીજાનો જમણો હાથ પકડવો તે, હાથ મિલાવવા
_(sanket tariike ekbijaano jamNo haath pakaDwo te, haath milaawwaa)_
[lit. "to have the hands meet by holding each others' right hand in a signalling way")

which just shows there's no proper translation for it in Gujarati!!


----------



## Encolpius

*Hungarian *--- kezet [kéz hand] nyújt [give], ráz [shake], fog [take], szorít [squeeze]


----------



## apmoy70

In Greek:


Formally:
*«Χαιρετίζω δια χειραψίας»* [çereˈtizo ðʝa çiɾaˈpsi.as] --> _to greet (someone) with handshake_.
Colloquially:
*«Κάνω/κάνουμε χειραψία»* [ˈkano çiɾaˈpsi.a] (1st p. sing.)/[ˈkanume çiɾaˈpsi.a] (1st p. pl.) --> _to do/make handshake_.


-MoGr verb *«χαιρετίζω»* [çereˈtizo] --> _to greet_ < Classical v. *«χαιρετίζω» kʰairĕtízo* --> _to greet someone_ (PIE *ǵʰer(H)-, _to desire, enjoy_ cf Skt. हर्यति (haryati), _to long for, like_).
-MoGr verb *«κάνω»* ['kano] --> _to do/make, fare, act, produce, execute_ < Classical v. *«κάμνω» kámnō* --> _to do/make, toil, labour, build, wrought, act, perform, execute_ (PIE *ḱemh₂-, _to exert oneself, get tired_ cf M.Ir. cuma, _grief, trouble_).
-Fem. noun *«χειραψία»* [çiraˈpsi.a] --> _handshake (greeting)_ < Classical fem. noun *«χειραψίᾱ» kʰeirăpsíā* --> _rough handling, hand-to-hand fight, close combat_ < compound; Classical 3rd decl. fem. noun *«χείρ» kʰeír* --> _hand, fist_ (PIE *ǵʰes-r-, _hand_ cf Hitt. keššar, _hand_; Tocharian A/B shar, _hand_; Arm. ձեռք (dzerrk); Alb. dorë) + Classical v. *«ἅπτω» háptō* --> _to join, attach, grasp, kindle_ (PIE *h₂ep-, _to join, fit_ cf Skt. आप्नोति (āpnoti), _to obtain, grasp_; Hitt. h̬app-, _to join_).


----------



## Messquito

univerio said:


> Chinese: 握手 (squeeze hand)


As a native Chinese speaker, I would think the literal meaning of 握手 is "hold/grisp hands" not squeeze.

I might add that where you use "hold hand" in English, we might say 握住/著手 (住-->stop/start to remain in one position/著-->mark a continuous action)
e.g. Hold my hand, I'm scared! 握(住)我的手，我好怕！


----------



## 810senior

In Japanese: 握手する(akushu s-uru, to grasp one's hand) or 握手を交わす(akusyu-wo kawas-u, exchange one's grasping hand)


----------

