Prime Minister Gordon Brown greets Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with a kiss at 10 Downing Street in London in March 2008.
 
Kiss or shake hands with a client or colleague? That is the big dilemma¹ which faces workers around the country every day.

Workers in Britain are "safer" to greet colleagues of the opposite sex with a handshake than a kiss, a common greeting in other parts of Europe, a study released Friday said.

A survey of 1,200 workers by recruitment firm Office Angels said some became so anxious while deciding whether to kiss or shake hands that one in eight forgot the name of the person they were greeting.

One fifth had an embarrassing clash of faces as they tried to kiss, and one in 10 became so flustered² they resorted to waving instead.

A similar number had actually allowed a colleague to sit through a meeting with lipstick³ on their cheek.

And an over-enthusiastic few said they had ended up accidentally groping a colleague or client after opting⁴ for a kiss while the other one tried to shake hands.

Londoners were most likely to be concerned about the issue, compared with workers in Northern Ireland, where most always went for a handshake, according to the research by the recruitment firm.

"My advice would always be, if in any doubt, go for a handshake. A handshake is always considered professional and courteous⁵, and being on the safe side of formal is never a bad thing in a work place situation." David Clubb, the managing director of Office Angels said.

 
问候客户或同事时，是吻面还是握手？这是英国上班族每天都要面临的一大难题。

上周五公布的一项调查显示，问候异性同事时握手比吻面“更安全”。吻面在欧洲其它地区是一种很常见的问候方式。

“办公室天使”招聘公司对1200名公司职员开展的调查显示，有些人遇到这一两难问题时慌张失措，竟有八分之一的人忘了对方的名字。

五分之一的受访者曾在行吻面礼时与对方尴尬“撞面”；十分之一的受访者由于慌乱失措，最后还是以握手了事。

另有十分之一的受访者曾让同事面带着红唇印一直在会场坐到会议结束。

还有一些“过于热情”的受访者称，他们在问候同事或客户时曾遇到自己准备行吻面礼，而对方则打算握手的情况，在这种情形下，他们则不小心摸了对方。

此外，调查显示，与北爱尔兰人相比，伦敦人更在意吻面还是握手这个问题。在北爱尔兰，上班族们最常用的是握手礼。

“办公室天使”公司的总经理大卫•克拉伯说：“我一直主张在有任何疑问时选择握手。握手历来被认为是一种职业、礼貌的问候方式，而在工作场合，选择安全的礼节总没错。”