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In the German version of Facebook (www.studivz.net) there's a feature where you can perform a certain action on any one user, no matter if they are in your friend list or not - Gruscheln.
This word has originally no specific meaning in the German language. But it sounds a bit like 'Kuscheln' - to cuddle, snuggle, nestle, huddle. But it also reminds people of 'Grapschen' - to grab. Others claim the odd initial latters come from 'Grüßen' - to greet.
So whenever you perform this action on someone, in can have a variety of meanings which makes it an interesting thing to do. Many do it among (opposite sex) friends to just send an informal greeting with friendship, accompanying private messages it can have a flirty meaning. If you send it to someone unknown who posted a nice picture of them it definitely means flirting.
Then there's the feature of group membership - you can found groups for people from Berlin, people performing Aikido, people studying abroad year in Spain 8examples of my groups) - and then there's one that says "If you Gruschel me it means you want to f*ck me" - explicitly stating that Gruscheling them has a sexual connotation. I've gruscheled a girl from my old class that had that group membership listed, knowingly, but then even this can have an ironic, joing context - just like flirting in real life.
With hundreds of thousands (some claim millions) of German students forming members of that Facebook-like platform, Gruscheln has become an integral part of German students culture. Does it exist in Facebook?
Are there any comparable phenomena in other countries?
This word has originally no specific meaning in the German language. But it sounds a bit like 'Kuscheln' - to cuddle, snuggle, nestle, huddle. But it also reminds people of 'Grapschen' - to grab. Others claim the odd initial latters come from 'Grüßen' - to greet.
So whenever you perform this action on someone, in can have a variety of meanings which makes it an interesting thing to do. Many do it among (opposite sex) friends to just send an informal greeting with friendship, accompanying private messages it can have a flirty meaning. If you send it to someone unknown who posted a nice picture of them it definitely means flirting.
Then there's the feature of group membership - you can found groups for people from Berlin, people performing Aikido, people studying abroad year in Spain 8examples of my groups) - and then there's one that says "If you Gruschel me it means you want to f*ck me" - explicitly stating that Gruscheling them has a sexual connotation. I've gruscheled a girl from my old class that had that group membership listed, knowingly, but then even this can have an ironic, joing context - just like flirting in real life.
With hundreds of thousands (some claim millions) of German students forming members of that Facebook-like platform, Gruscheln has become an integral part of German students culture. Does it exist in Facebook?
Are there any comparable phenomena in other countries?
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