Word: baciamano
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...sovereign in the late 18th century, when Austrian Emperor Joseph II snatched his hand from subjects' lips with the cry: "It isn't there for someone to wipe his nose on!" More recently Mussolini, who frowned on the custom in any form, tried to discourage il baciamano. He might as well have tried to suppress spaghetti. The Nazis also deplored the Handkuss- good Germans were meant to give the Hitler salute instead-but der Führer himself was often photographed with his forelock fanning some actress...
...Servicemen. Thus went a typical recent group audience at the Pope's summer residence (where he stayed until the end of November). The proceedings are similar at the Vatican. There are several categories of audiences: private, for VIPs; special, for groups of six to a dozen; baciamano (literally, kiss-the-hand), for groups from two dozen to a hundred; general, for groups in the thousands (sometimes held in St. Peter's Basilica). This year, the Pope has seen a total of 700,000 people. Total for the Holy Year of 1950 with its great mass audiences...
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