Eskimo kissing Eskimo kissing An Eskimo kiss, also called nose kiss or nose rub, is the act of pressing the tip of one's nose against another's nose usually interpreted as a friendly greeting gesture in various cultures. When early explorers of the Arctic first witnessed Inuit nose rubbing as a greeting behavior, they dubbed it "Eskimo kissing". The Eskimo kiss was used as an intimate greeting by the Inuit who, when they meet outside, often have little except their nose and eyes exposed. The Eskimo kiss is employed by the Inuit as a traditional greeting called a "kunik". A "kunik" is a
Eskimo words for snow are referred to as Eskimo, and a number of different languages are termed Eskimo–Aleut languages. These languages may have more or fewer words for "snow", or perhaps more importantly, more or fewer words that are "commonly applied" to snow, depending on which language is considered. Three distinct word roots with the meaning "snow" are reconstructed for the Proto-Eskimo language *"qaniɣ" 'falling snow', *"aniɣu" 'fallen snow', and *"apun" 'snow on the ground'. These three stems are found in all Inuit languages and dialects—except for West Greenlandic, which lacks *"aniɣu". The Alaskan and Siberian Yupik people (among others) however, are not Inuit