Ruthlessly tacky girls Yet more on triple-kissing, a subject on which, thanks to readers, I'm becoming increasingly expert. Jason Shellen wrote in the other day to say how useful he found the Brazilian custom: a left-right-left kiss is a signal of availability. But an email from Enigmatic Mermaid in Sao Paulo -- see her enigmatic photo on the right -- puts a different slant on the practice: "Triple kissing is considered very tacky in Brazil. And it's not used to signal availability at all. The origin is an old wives' tale/ superstition that says that the third kiss 'é para casar', it will help you get married. Only desperate spinsters or ruthlessly tacky girls will give you three kisses. The number of kisses given in Brazil can be a little confusing, I admit it. For starters, we kiss just about everybody on the cheek: friends, your mom's seventy year old friend, your doctor, your workmates. Generally, it's two kisses for people you don't know very well and one kiss for a close friend, usually with a little hug as garnish."
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Yet more on triple-kissing, a subject on which, thanks to readers, I'm becoming increasingly expert. Jason Shellen wrote in the other day to say how useful he found the Brazilian custom: a left-right-left kiss is a signal of availability. But an email from 
