Comments on: How we say hello in New England

By: Grant

Grant — Fri, 20 May 2011 19:05:53 +0000

k.h., if you are getting notices four years after the fact, would you contact me at grant27@gmail.com. I want to use your comment on this blog post in the book I’m working on. Thanks, Grant

By: MCW

MCW — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 20:57:08 +0000

Yup –every culture seems to have a gesture that’s their version of “the smallest possible social acknowledgement” signal.

It’s usually displayed when you enter somebody else’s space (as defined by that culture — that can mean you’re 100 ft away or 3 ft away, depending) and it shows respect and general recognition of the other’s presence. It doesn’t usually mean that the person wants to interact.

A few that I’ve seen:

- the eyebrow flash (not as a flirtatious thing, which it’s also used for, but purely for acknowledgment)
- brief eye contact before glancing away, usually combined with either a brief slight smile or a slight nod
- while driving in rural areas in the US: the raising of a couple of fingers from the hand that’s on the steering wheel, or (if the person is feeling more effusive) a vague wave

By: k.h.

k.h. — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:57:14 +0000

I was raised in New England, and I can often tell when I’m doing this — and sometimes go so far as to wonder, “Would it kill me to smile and say hello?” Then my next thought is “Yes.”

Why? Who knows.

My relatives soften their voices to whispers when they talk about certain topics, even if we’re the only people in the room and there’s no one else around for miles. Another one of those weird things.

By: My Back Pages: Writing, Web Editing, Life in Los Angeles, and More

My Back Pages: Writing, Web Editing, Life in Los Angeles, and More — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:54:03 +0000

The Moue and Me

I know I put my Away Message on, but I just read this blog post defining a practice of New Englanders called the moue, and I had to say something about it. The moue is defined by this anthropologist/blogger as

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:01:17 +0000

What is that sound Mainers make when they moue? “ayr” or some such thing?

Remember, Frost used the “good fences” line ironically.

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 08:00:22 +0000

What is that sound Mainers make when they moue? “ayr” or some such thing?

Remember, Frost used the “good fences” line ironically.

By: botogol

botogol — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:08:48 +0000

“Simultaneity when accomplished accidentally is always fun”

I like that. But I would widen it: simultaneity accomplished *deliberately* is also almost always fun, as well.

(I wonder why?)

By: jens

jens — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:07:05 +0000

and of course: the disrespectful gift works best in a moue-world.

By: jens

jens — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:52:24 +0000

and then, as you all said, the moue also carries the notion of a peer gesture. – not something that one would exchange with anyone.

the cheerful hello, as grant says, comes as a ‘gift to the world’ and in this way it also steps out of this silent exchange of peer signals. – it is for everybody to hear. – “take it or leave it. – have a nice day” — it says: i am not actually talking to you in particular – i am talking to the world – and you are invited to celebrate life with me…

in a way the cheery hello can have something of a slightly disrespectful gift – and i think that is what i love most about it.

a spontaneous comment — “man on a mission!” — is an even higher form of this wonderfully disrespectful gift. here again a meeting is turned into something extraordinary. somebody sees something, grasps that and takes the time and energy to turn it into a picture. — “man on a mission!” — how nice is that. wonderful. and wonderfully disrespectful again. — “see, i am a poet. you too?. show me next time. good bye.”

By: jens

jens — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 06:51:33 +0000

and then, as you all said, the moue also carries the notion of a peer gesture. – not something that one would exchange with anyone.

in a way the cheery hello can have something of a slightly disrespectful gift – and i think that is what i love most about it.