# Does cheek pinching span across cultures ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131 "2017-06-29T13:29:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/1 "2017-06-29T13:29:18Z")
Pinching of kids cheeks by adults (or adults by grandma :)) as a mark of affection seems to be common in USA and India (my sample space). Is it so for the rest of the world ? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/2 "2017-06-29T13:46:50Z")
Sometimes, but a good spam filter usually catches it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/3 "2017-06-29T13:51:43Z")
I’ve encountered it in multiple European and Latin American locations both as a form of affection and as a very painful move by assholes. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/4 "2017-06-29T14:49:22Z")
There may be some cultures that don’t do it, but it seems pretty common around the world. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/5 "2017-06-29T15:11:55Z")
Not in East Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/6 "2017-06-29T15:13:45Z")
I think I’ve only ever seen it on TV. I’ve never encountered it in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/7 "2017-06-29T15:27:54Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ve never encountered it in the wild. It’s not something I remember encountering, either. It’s entirely possible that it’s something that varies across individuals or families or communities, rather than treating a large, diverse nation as someplace where it does or does not occur. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/8 "2017-06-29T15:42:53Z")
Not a UK thing in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/9 "2017-06-29T22:00:33Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Not a UK thing in my experience. Seems to be all over British and ex-colonial literature and media, though. [E.g., in British writer Wesley Stace’s novel _Misfortune_](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/aug/24/guardianfirstbookaward2005.gurardianfirstbookaward8): > [@](#): > > “Good boy,” she said as she pinched his cheek. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/10 "2017-06-29T22:19:42Z")
I usually hear about men doing this. I heard Rome is a place where a woman can’t walk through a crowd without getting her cheeks pinched. I wasn’t aware that pervs pinching kids on the ass was that common. And what kind of grandma goes around grabbing adult’s butts anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/11 "2017-07-01T06:17:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think I’ve only ever seen it on TV. I’ve never encountered it in the wild. Hmm. Very common in my experience (Eastern Midwest USA). To the point where my just-turned-3 y.o. son will pinch anyone’s cheeks and tell them that they are cute. LOL. He did it to his pediatrician last week…she pinched his cheek back and said “Aww, you’re cute, too!” Bum-pinching (for babies, at least) is probably almost as common and blithe. I’m almost 40 and I’ve had my cheeks pinched a few times in recent years in a similar manner as we do to babies. It’s rather condescending, if I dwell on it, but I do have a big baby face, so I deal. 🙂 There are worse things. Now if you pinch my bum you better have precedent… ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/12 "2017-07-01T06:31:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > And what kind of grandma goes around grabbing adult’s butts anyway? I’ve heard a few times about Italian (actually, I think it was always Sicilian) grannies even “affectionately” pinching kids’ erm, bits and pieces, with a comment or two, but it’s hearsay for me. I tried to look it up discreetly, but I didn’t want to end up on a list, so this will have to go under an “unconfirmed” heading. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/13 "2017-07-02T06:06:02Z")
You know who pinched cheeks? That’s right, Adolf Hitler did. In the last footage of him alive, where he decorates some children for their acts of bravery in defending Berlin, he can be seen doing the cheek pinching thing. Leading me to believe that at least at some point in Austria or Germany or both, this was a thing. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/14 "2017-07-02T12:16:51Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think I’ve only ever seen it on TV. I’ve never encountered it in the wild. Same here. I had the impression that it was an outdated tradition resurrected simply for humorous effect. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/15 "2017-07-02T15:12:26Z")
They’re just checking to see if the kid is fat enough yet for butchering. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/16 "2017-07-02T16:23:39Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Same here. I had the impression that it was an outdated tradition resurrected simply for humorous effect. I wish. I remember an instance 8 years ago when we pretty much had to grab a woman to get her away from my niece’s cheeks. As her father put it “she can’t say no because she can’t speak, crying means ‘no’!” For some reason, every female cheek-pincher I’ve seen in action was painted up like a clown. I’ve got the hypothesis that they may be behind a good chunk of the fear of clowns. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-cheek-pinching-span-across-cultures/790131/17 "2017-07-02T22:50:06Z")
The one time I can recall someone doing it to me, I bared my teeth and growled, “Don’t touch me!” That person (I don’t even remember if it was a man or a woman) was very startled and backed away. I was, at the most, 5 or 6.