A german etiquette group has called for a ban on work colleagues kissing one another in the office saying the peck on the cheek is a form of ''terrorism''.
The German Knigge Society - knigge translates as etiquette or correct behaviour - says the practice has flourished in offices in recent years.
Women kiss women, men kiss women, usually once, sometimes twice in the way of the French. In a society with rules more rigorous than most, sensibilities have become deeply offended.
Seeing as how Germans can go their whole working lives referring to the person next to them in the formal ''Sie'' instead of ''du'', a kiss has become something of a threat to the accepted order of things.
At school they are taught to keep a respectful distance when greeting a stranger, to shake their hand and to bow the head ever so slightly. Not for them the high fives of Wall Street, dress-down Fridays and group therapy hugs.
Now the Knigge Society has ruled on the vexed issue of office kissing and says it must go. It says it has reacted to many callers who have inquired over recent months about what to do if someone should attempt to kiss them in a greeting.
Hans-Michael Klein, chairman of the group, said: ''This is valid immediately. There should be no kissing, at least not in the office.''
In an attempt to show he was not living in another century, or in another galaxy, Herr Klein said inquiries had flooded into his offices from such varied cities as Berlin, Munich and Dusseldorf.
''The suspicion for many remains that there is, or may be, an erotic component to the kissing,'' he said. ''Kissing simply gets on the nerves of many at work. It is a form of terror.
''In business the handshake is considered the correct greeting ritual.''