A look across the room.
A slight touch of the hand.
A heavy sigh.
These can all be identified as acts of intimacy.
Back in the old days, they could've meant you were spoken for as soon as they happened.
The actions themselves seem simple.
But in the right context, they can send shivers down a spine.
Redditor PreferenceTop8144 wanted to discuss the actions that seem inconsequential but actually carry meaning, so they asked:
"What is something that seems innocent but is actually pretty intimate?"
Hold Tight
"Hugging with INTENTION. There is a difference between hugging because you gotta greet someone etc. and just hugging with intention. The type of 'I’m not feeling ok, can I have a hug' hug maybe."
- ExtremePrivacy18
hugging hug GIFGiphy
Say My Name
"When you are attracted to someone and they say your name."
- thesoozle
"My boyfriend said my name when we first started dating when we were fooling around and I could not believe that it floored me as much as it did. Honestly, to a degree that after we dated for a while, I told him how much I liked when he did that. Somehow it came up that I said I would say his name back. And I fumbled… it’s hilarious. Somehow, I can’t say his name literally at all now. it sounds forced and like I’m trying too hard. But holy f**k if I don’t die every time he breaths my name into my ear."
- StudioExtreme8658
Pick, pick, pick...
"Apparently, picking lint/hair/whatever off of someone's shirt or coat. People suspected that Princess Margaret was more than friends with Peter Townsend because she picked some lint off of his jacket."
- LizardPossum
"It's funny sometimes how even with all the trappings of civilization and layers of nice clothing we're all really just primates grooming each other to show affection."
- dustyspectacles
"I have a friend who did this when we first met, and I felt an instant attraction to her. We talk a lot, but she lives in another state (she was visiting a mutual friend that week), and neither of us is in a position to be able to move right now, but we have admitted feelings for each other. That meetup was interesting because it felt like we had known each other for years, but we had only just met in person that day."
- jgearhart76
Watch your Back
"Before we were together my girlfriend and I were at the club we volunteer at. I was standing by a desk in a narrow gap, and she went to walk behind me as she squeezed past, she put both her hands on my waist and said, 'Watch your back.' Had to go sit down after that one."
- DISCIPLINE191
HELP!
"Putting on or taking off my necklaces, bracelets, and earrings without my asking for help."
- berkerderker
"I was at an art fair and bought a necklace from one of the vendors. I gave him the money for it, and he immediately reached behind my neck, under my extremely long hair, and clasped it for me. All within 2 seconds max. I was so impressed. I was not expecting it at all, let alone with such suavity. I can’t do that myself with such ease. I do believe I staggered out of that tent short of breath and blushing, but it was all a bit of a blur at that point."
- SirBethums
Gotcha
"Hug from behind."
- CompotePristine2121
"That's how my youngest child came to be."
- hellraisinhardass
in love GIFGiphy
So Close
"Accidentally touching legs or arms while sitting next to someone, and they don’t move away."
- mvvngirl
"I have a distinct memory of this happening to me in fifth grade. It was in music class and I don’t remember why, but we were lying on the floor in a circle, and my foot just barely touched that of the gorgeous girl with long dark hair lying next to me. Sparks went flying."
"For the next 10 or so minutes, I slowly inched my foot closer and closer until our feet were pressed snuggly against each other. I was ecstatic that she didn’t pull away, but didn’t her foot feel kind of hard? Was she wearing shoes? I discretely glanced over my shoulder, only to find that this whole time, I’d been playing footsie with the leg of a chair."
- fakearchitect
Look Close
"Looking into each other eyes. It gets more intimate and more intense the longer you look."
- AffectionateYakX
"This is my favorite casual intimacy with strangers. I love it when I meet someone who can hold the eye contact to my level. It's like a little secret club that you let yourselves into. Or the odd time it gives you butterflies, and you know you'd have chemistry. You have to choose to keep eye contact so it's mutual interest in each other, I love it."
- Bright_Initial_6798
Pressure
"A few months ago, my back spasmed pretty terribly, so a fellow at my job pulled me into a room after everyone went to lunch and had me lay on my stomach. He pressed my sacrum down to help release the spasm and just held it there for a while. I haven't been touched by anyone other than my son in a long, long time, so laying there, with us in a quiet office, quietly chatting about whatever like old friends... I still think about that moment."
- yonderposerbreaks
Dig Deeper
"For some reason, having someone digging through or zipping up your backpack while wearing it. It gives me the same feeling as those childhood back games you would play. You know, 'Crack an egg on your head, the yolk starts running down' or 'Spiders crawling down your back.'"
"Being a motorcyclist, it happens a lot more now since I travel with a backpack."
- Naviolii
"It's the sensation of someone undressing you."
- Mushu_Pork
Fleeting Moment
"The sparkle you see in the eyes of a stranger that you think is beautiful when they think the same of you. It lasts only a moment, you never see them again, but there it is."
- Sutar_Mekeg
Shocked Eyes GIF by Adult SwimGiphy
A Quick Snip
"For the first real haircut I got after lockdown eased, the barber gently unlooped my mask from my ear… Shockingly intimate. Sorta took my breath away for a second."
- captaincalcium
"My first haircut in Italy, the lady would move my head by placing both hands on my jaw and gently positioning my head. It was the most sensual haircut I'd ever had. I felt like asking her 'So... what are we?' at the end of it."
- This_Ferret
"Do you know how barbers tend to roughly move your head around to get in the position they want? I had one grab my chin and gently turn my head slightly to the side like he was going in for a kiss. Months later I still think about it."
- Takemedown*itch
Sharing is Caring
"Eating from the same plate. Sharing a sandwich/burrito."
- Dapper-Condition6041
"When I was in college I worked over the summer for a professor collecting and then collating radio signals from space. It was a cool job, I was doing it with one other student. One day my professor (super old dude with, what I can see in retrospect as a 37-year-old, a weird sense of intimate boundaries due to spending a lot of his childhood in a care home for kids with polio) took a bite of an apple, said it was the best apple he'd ever tasted and offered me a bite."
"I took a bite out of the opposite side. The other student that worked with me saw me do that and was convinced I was f*cking this old dude because we shared an apple and told everyone in my program that's how I got the job."
- string-ornothing
Neutral?
"I had this test I did with every new boyfriend..."
"Brushing our teeth together. You can't say anything, yet you are together. Will it be awkward, fun, relaxing, or neutral? If it was awkward in forced silence it usually was a sign of us not being a good match."
- RainbowWaters
"Oh, this is neat. Looking back, I brushed my teeth with an ex and it was painfully silent. But with my now husband, when we brush our teeth together, still to this day it's either a comfortable, relaxed silence or we get into silly, playful intense staring contests."
- g0ldf1nch_
My Property
"Touching something of mine. It's kind of weird, but once in 9th grade, I had my binder on my desk, and the front sleeve had a decorative paper. And this guy I had a crush on very slowly slips a finger under the sleeve and starts playing with that piece of paper. It was weirdly intimate, and 10 years later, I still randomly think about it."
"Another time was recently when I asked a dude if I could smack his a** (he was throwing it back) he said yes. Asked if he could smack my a** but I told him no. I asked to grab his hand and told him to 'feel this.' I had a flask in the back pocket and he felt the flask. Never touched my actual body but that was weirdly intimate."
Vibes
"In a break between classes in college, I went with my friend to a nearby supermarket to buy snacks. Walking around in a supermarket carrying a basket as a girl puts stuff in it really gives off husband-wife vibes."
- SauloJr
Parks And Recreation Shopping GIF by PeacockGiphy
I love shopping with a partner.
For me, it was always a favorite way to share time.
Any form of touching is fair game when it comes to interpretation.
I would get moody when waiters or co-workers touched my partner's shoulders.
Only I can do that, thank you.
Unless we're paying you for a massage, you better back up.
Small, simple moments of intimacy send volumes in messaging.
And we're all listening.
