What's the name of this kind of act?

Question

What's the name of this kind of act? It is commonly seen between friends. (I mean the act between two people, not necessarily 4 people like this one.)

Or can you describe it with a few words?

If they start doing dance steps, you could call it "a chorus line." — Robusto, Mar 09 '11 at 10:49

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '11 at 10:31

5

This is normally described rather literally as "putting an arm around someone's shoulder".

For example: Mike put his arm around Tracey's shoulder while they were watching the football game.

answered Mar 09 '11 at 10:31

sapphiremirage

411

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '11 at 16:19

0

A more succinct phrase would be shoulder embrace.

answered Mar 09 '11 at 16:19

ghoppe

14,419

Abraxas · Answer 3 · 2014-11-09T09:28:17.317

It would not be an "act". "Act" implies a performance of some kind, like in front of an audience. "Action" would be all right. "Gesture" would be a good choice. Though it generally implies movements during speech, it can also simply mean "posture" but carries a social connotation, too. A person can have a particular posture while alone, but a gesture would require at least one other person to observe it or to be the recipient of it for it to have meaning.

Example: He put his arm around my shoulder as a reassuring gesture.

What's the name of this kind of act?

3 Answers3