Definitely, certain languages are more open to it. I actually got the idea for Ubel from a Russian novel--he's a very different character, so I didn't consider it quite stealing or anything, but he did do the kind of freakishly/uncomfortably intimate thing. A prof pointed out at the time we were reading it that Russian really really lends itself to that. In some languages there's stuff like a formal "you" and informal "you", but in Russain there're whole sets of different ways to say things depending on how intimate your are with whom you're talking to.

I don't know how Lorne pulls off the pastry-calling...

I think it has something to do with being green.

Pleased to meetcha!