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Commenting on how people look
Italians remark on appearance far more freely than British or American speakers, and usually without any intent to wound. Sei dimagrito, you've lost weight, is a compliment; sei ingrassato, you've put on weight, is said aloud by relatives at family lunches and is meant as concern rather than criticism. Being told you look tired, pale or unwell is a form of care, not an insult, and the expected reply is an explanation rather than offense. Foreigners often read this as rudeness, and the mismatch runs both ways: Italians can find Anglo-American reticence about bodies faintly cold. Two related habits. Compliments are given easily and expected to be deflected rather than accepted — the standard reply to a compliment is a modest dismissal, not thank you. And the greeting kiss, two of them, right cheek first in most of the country, is for friends and family of either sex, while a handshake covers everything formal. Getting the cheek order wrong is a universal foreigner's moment and nobody minds.