Oh I wish I could have a pair of garden sheers with me when I decide to cut their hand off. Seriously though, I would not take the handshake and I would most definitely spit in their face. F**k that being the bigger person bullsh**t.

Hmmmmmm. Would accepting it really make me a hypocrite though? I think it would be more like just...avoiding further conflict and being the bigger person. But then that'd depend on why I hated them. I find it extremely hard to hate someone, so if I felt that strongly I'd refuse it. Definitely.

Refuse it. If it had gone as far for me to really, really hate someone, it would take more than a handshake for that person to prove they're worthy of my forgiveness/trust again.

Hmm..I'm going with impolite. I don't really hate anyone, but I strongly dislike one or two. I definitely refuse a hand shake from them..

Depends on why I hate the person. Most likely I would accept the handshake to prevent further conflict.

i shook their hand quite a few times when we were young and had to sit by each other in church. our sunday school teacher made us. i felt disgusted every time because he did it specifically to piss me off too...

I'd probably shake their hand out of surprise and habit, and for the rest of the day kick myself for having done it.

I don't really hate people that way. If a person I didn't like offered a handshake whether I would shake it or not would depend on why he was extending his hand. If it was just what everyone was doing in a public greeting, then I would do it. If it signified my forgiveness or a truce, I would need to see the evidence of it. But I don't see it as impolite to refuse or hypocritical to accept.

I'd probably refuse it. Sometimes even forgiveness is very hard. One person in mind sticks out, so I'm basing my answer off of her.

I'd be polite and accept it. (However, I wouldn't hesitate to spit in my palm first.)

I would walk away, I would rather be rude than a hypocrite.

One of my most hated? Hmm. That's a good one. A few of them I would need to shake so as no to offend their partner (and one of my beloveds). Others I would have no problem turning my back on.

My most hsted person wouldnt get that close to me, he knows better. REFUSE IT!!!

I would be blatently honest and say no thanks I'd rather not. I tend to think it is better to be honest

I would shake her/his hand. It wouldn't make me a hypocrite, but rather it would make me a hypocrite to not shake his/her hand. The people I dislike most in this world, are people who are childish and cruel. Not shaking someone's hand just because you hate them is childish, rude and unhelpful. It's childish because it won't hurt you to shake someone's hand, no matter how much of an a--hole they are.

I'd probably turn my handshake into a frantic wave then run off.

Accept thier handshake. It's psycological warfare if it's already gotten that bad. If you refuse it you show they're getting to you. ...and don't forget to smile!

I'd shake their hand. Such a senseless gesture is not hypocritical in my book.

I've actually had this scenario. And I shook the moron's hand. He's the type of guy that would go and tell everyone how much of a dick I am if I refused to shake his hand. It's better for me to deny myself one little refusal than to give him any ammunition against my character (which is why everyone believes me and not him anyways)

The only person who I actually hate is dead now, but if he weren't..I would accept it, if that makes me a hypocrite..so be it. (besides..it keeps 'em guessing *wink*)

I don't hate very many people. If it was someone that I truly hated, I would refuse their handshake. I would not want to touch them at all.

This situation has happened to me a few times in the past and I am quite rude about it. I will NOT shake the hand of someone I have diss-respect for.

There's only one person I really hate, and if I saw her again by some slim chance, I'd either rip her throat out or kiss her....it depends on what kind of day I'm having.

I fail to see how shaking the hand of someone you hated would be hypocrisy. Now, if it was a deal of some sort, yeah, I'd refuse. But if they're being polite, even if I hated him/her, I'd accept it. After all, respect your enemy, and they'll respect you.

This is to show your weapon hand is empty, so yes, shake him by the right hand... them stab him with your left. Just make sure you're looking him in the eyes as you do it... oh the surprise... = 100 points from me - yey!!!

I would accept it, and be thinking that maybe we could repair our problems. I don't see it as hypocritical.

Hypothetical? This has happened to me repeatedly. The prick always extends his hand and I feel weird turning him down, and I feel like a hypocrite afterwards. Last time it happened I refused to shake his hand and there was a big scene. Therefore, it's better to just play nice, regardless of your own personal feelings.

I'd shake their hand whether I'd like them or not. Trust me, its not because I'd want to touch her/him...its because I just picked my nose. Should I wrap my booger for her/him? No, really as an adult your likely to be polite..for the sake of something else. ALot of people dislove their bosses/co-workers or maybe family members for all I know, but they try to be civil with em. Generally, if someone refuses to shake a persons hand, it seems petty & that stands out more than the reason behind it...not everyone will know what has transpired between the two of you. In a social setting, its awkward. Its just a lesson to learn in life, to try and make your life as stress less as possible...and not let little things get to you.

I would be quite diplomatic and give a very cold and stiff hand shake, it has happened to me and that is how I have reacted.

I use the Tombstone line by Val Kilmer: " Forgive me if I don't shake hands." And I do not shake hands. As stated in Tombstone as well, " My Hippocracy only goes so far."

I've actually had this happen not to long ago and I refused the handshake because it was not sincere & she only wanted to get a rise out of me.

I would be gracious and accept it.

To be honest it would depend entirely upon what I am basing my intense dislike upon. If the "hate" is based upon something that is in actuality rather trivial...I would be wont to consider if the energy needed to maintain the hate is even valid and worth my time. Especially if they are offering some sort of well-intended truce! I can only think of one person that I probably would not shake their hand, and that would probably change, if they actually made amends for the stunt they pulled on me. As it stands, right now, I would probably suggest they take a long walk off of a short pier and go to hell.

it would depend on the sitch. If it were a social gathering, I'd give a phoney shake back. If it were on a personal level, I would refuse.

Hmm... I'd just stare at their hand for a few seconds then just walk off. lol

I'd give them a handshake, but it'd probably be abit painful and I would most likely expect them to do something sneaky afterwards so I'd prepare myself for it. But bottom line is that I'd probably give them a handshake.

Refuse no question

I agree a 100% with lovehearts on this one...And- "being the bigger person" is not a bad thing. I admit that sometimes people will do what is the "bigger person" thing to do, or as I am thinking of it: "the right thing to do" (as one persieves it to be, at the time anyways) when in fact they are merely supporting bad behavior over and over again...Perspective is everything. But to not accept a handshake, in America anyways, is a very big statement. How big is the cause of your "hate"? Did this person just murder your daughter? The perportion of the situation matters greatly in this question.

I would refuse it and just nod.

I can count on one hand the number of people i actually really do hate - but, in a million years, I would NEVER ever shake hands with them.

I make it a point to not hate anyone, but if I did...hypothetically, I would be a hypocrite and shake their hand. That being said, I look at it like turning the other cheek, not being hypocritical.

Refuse.

I would not accept their handshake. That asshole doesnt deserve acknowledgement from me and then I would run away shouting, "the apocalpse is near run for your lives!!!!"

Honestly, that's one instance where it wouldn't bother me to be rude. The people on my hate list are there for huge reasons. I don't anger easily at all, but once I'm there I turn into a psycho as far as that person is concerned.

Accept but they'd better be offering an apology with that hand or I might use it to knock them down!

Well, there are a few people I'd rather not be around, but can't say I actually hate anyone, so I'd probably shake anyone's hand. The attitude that went along with the shake might be a little different depending on who it was, and there might be a rolling of the eyes as soon as they looked away, but I'd still shake. lol

i would cough into my hand and then shake LOL

I would only accept if I had leprosy, otherwise, I would refuse.

i would not accept it. Look the other way if you have to. Who cares if you are impolite to someone you don't like? It's probably more improper for the person to offer their hand to you, knowing you despise them. In order for me to hate someone that much, they would have had to have been awfully rude to me. In that case, they don't deserve the honor of my handshake. Nothing impolite about that.

Hate is a strong word, but I'd refuse it. Happened to me once already and I'd do the same again.

One of my most hated persons? . I'd take the hand, do a 360 spin, wrench it around his back and break his f****** arm. . So ... yeah, I'd shake his hand. .

It is much easier on me to be rude than to be a hypocrite. I would refuse it. Happy Monday! :)

I don't like to be dishonest. There aren't too many poople that I don't like, but I'd have to refuse.

I have been in this situation...I shook his hand and got close like I was going to tell him something important and I whispered in his ear...after today, if I see you, I'm going to kill you.

This exact scenario recently came upon me. I shook his hand. We were at a mutual friends birthday, and i didn't want to create negativity which would've caused a scene. Pathetic excuse i know, and i have truly regretted it every time i've thought of it since.

would have to refuse it!

I would have to refuse it I'll look at them like they are crazy...

i dont really hate that many people so i'd take it. if someone raped and murdered my family member I wouldnt take it but if it was some bitch who screwed me out of a parking spot at Target then I wouldnt care.

I would accept it. I wouldn't think I would be a hypocrite though. I would just be being polite. I wouldn't want to sink to their level. I can really only think of one person that I know personally that I don't care for so much... and she knows it. But I'm still polite. No need for drama. Heck, I'd even shake W's hand while simultaneously asking him a few questions... *shrugs* Maybe I don't hate anyone enough.

No, I would tell them take there hand and stick it in their ass!

I realy don't hate people. I often hate what people do, but I don't hate people. I would shake their hand and talk with them. Try to understand what it is in them that makes them do things that I hate. Maybe I will understand why they do those things, maybe I can convince them not to do them anymore, but trying to find moral high ground by not shaking hands accomplishes nothing.

There are a couple people I hate. All for the same reason. I would refuse the handshake.

I'm afraid under no situation is your question that black or white..........you could do either and be neither...

I avoid the people I hate and really can't think of a scenario where I'd be in the position of having to shake their hand. I'd refuse and give a curt nod of the head.

I would just look at it and not extend my hand and walk away

Excellent question. I don't hate anyone. If I am feeling something that looks and feels like hate, I need to deal with it within myself and get past it. Hate is toxic and unnecessary. It mostly damages the one who chooses to hate. I will shake anyone's hand (barring certain sanitary concerns :)) To shake a person's hand is never hypocritical, even if you are angry. It is a way of saying that you believe in civility and desire to work toward good will. To refuse a handshake is childish. Just my opinion.

i don't think you would be a hypocrite if you shook the hand of someone you hated. Shaking hands is etiquette and courtesy, not a display of fondness towards someone. I would probably shake the hand. No reason i have to be rude just b/c they suck. :-)

id walk away and make a face as i leave.

Abraham Lincoln was once told that he was too kind to his enemies, that he should destroy them. He replied, "Am I not destroying my enemies when I make them my friends?" I don't think it is hypocritical at all to shake the hand of someone I don't like. What better way to destroy an enemy?

False premise: A handshake is not necessarily a statement of friendship let alone regard, admiration or congratulations. Normally it is merely the seal to a contract, in this case a mutual promise of truce: specifically, that at this particular meeting niether of you will try to kill, injure, rob or swindle the other. It is a gesture that usually means nothing more than "I come in peace (... this time)." Also, pponents in debates and sporting matches - who may genuinely hate each other - shake hands at the start as a mutual promise to play by the rules -- i.e., to keep their attempts to injure and/or humiliate each other within certain explicit and agreed upon bounds. It would only be hypocritical to skake hands if you were planning to stab the other guy in the back during the meeting/match, or as he walked away from it. (Tomorrow, however, is another day.) Now, putting on an over-the-top show of friendship and affection ... that's not so much hypocritical as outright treacherous -- though I suppose it would depend on who you were trying to fool ... and why. That being said, civility and common courtesy with people you detest is not hypocrisy, it's merely good manners, good sense, and even good morals (the Golden Rule) - especially when you aren't allowed to kill or exile the SOB, and yet still have to work and live with him ... not to mention all those people who - however inexplicably - actually like or care about him. It's called being polite - a word thoroughly connected with other words like police, politic, politics, policy, and also metropolis and cosmopolitan, all words deriving from the Greek word for "city", which (like their Latin counterparts: civil, civic, civility, civilian, civilized, civilization, and even citizen) all pertain to what behavior is required for a large number of people to live together in a small area without killing each other. Always remember, superficial harmony IS harmony.

I can't hate anyone enough to refuse an offered hand, if that hand is sincere.

I don't hate anyone, but if it were someone who had really hurt me in the past (I can think of several).....I would think of love, of Jesus' love for me, and of my desire to do what is right and love others as He has loved me...and I would ask God for the strength and ability to love with his love and forgive them as quickly and thoroughly as He has forgiven me. And I would shake their hand. I have been in this sort of situation before. I saw this question and I thought of a beautiful story I read by Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. She too was faced with a decision of whether to shake someone's hand...the hand of one of her concentration camp guards. He did not know it was her. Here is the story: "It was in a church in Munich where I was speaking in 1947 that I saw him--a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat, the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. "Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment of skin. "Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent. "Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!" "It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze. "You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard there. But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein--" again the hand came out--"will you forgive me?" "And I stood there--and could not. Betsie had died in that place--could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking? "It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do. "For I had to do it--I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses." "Still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. 'Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. "I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling.' "And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you, brother!' I cried. 'With all my heart!' "For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then. "With Corrie's willingness came God's power to forgive her former captor. "When you and I are willing to see our need for God's forgiveness, He is willing and able to forgive our sins. The Bible says that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and that "the wages of sin is death' (Romans 3:23; 6:23). But it goes on to explain that 'God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us' (Romans 5:8). "You too can know the same forgiveness and salvation that transformed Corrie and the former Nazi guard: "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9)."

You can never avoid 'answering' a hand shake. Instead of refusing a shake, for a foe, what better way to show them your feelings but with the body language through your hand - a really quick hand that swipes away all too abruptly perhaps?

It depends ... probably impolite - I am NOT a hypocrite. LOL

As politely as possible, I would refuse it. A handshake is a sign of goodwill, and if I don't have it towards them, I can't stand lying about it.

I'D REFUSE IT, BECAUSE A PERSON IN THIS DAY AND AGE CAN MAKE ONE MOVE AND HURT OR KILL WITH ONE FINGER, LET ALONE A HAND FROM SOMEONE THAT LITERLY HATES YOU. HAVE A NICE DAY. MIKE

i would never shake the hand of the devil

I would shake their hand. Hate eats you up from the inside and insures that you think often about the very thing you detest. No individual is worth that to me.

Always be faithful, loyal, respectful and never hypocritical.

i'd accept, but stray away from them for the rest of the day

I'd be so insulted I'd most likely end up cursing the person out, they act is just hypocritical, they don't want you as your friend... I'd refuse it

I'll say hang on... put some gloves on...ok now we can shake hands :D