- See mouse gesture for gestures in computing
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication made with a part of the body, and used instead of verbal communication (or in combination with it).
A form of non-verbal communication
Many gestures have offensive import; the language of gesture is rich in ways for individuals to express contempt, hostility, or approval towards others. Most people use gestures and body language in addition to words when they speak; some ethnic groups and languages use them more than others do, and the amount of such gesturing that is considered culturally acceptable varies from one location to the next. These gestures include acts such as pointing, one of the few gestures whose meaning varies little from one country to the next, as well as using the hands and body to keep time with the rhythms of speech and emphasize certain words or phrases.
Most of these gestures have no invariable or specific meaning; the gestures listed below have such a meaning in the cultures in which they are found. The gestures we use as we speak are integrally connected to both our speech and our thought processes; prominent researchers in this field include Susan Goldin-Meadow and David McNeill .
Bang bang
This gesture is performed by raising the fist with the index finger and thumb extended. The index finger points at the recipient. The thumb is then brought down on top of the fingers, in imitation of the action of a revolver pistol, which this gesture is meant to represent. This gesture is often meant to represent a handgun in children's games.
Benediction
The benediction gesture is a raised right hand with the ring and pinky fingers touching the palm, with the thumb, middle, and index fingers raised. It is used by the Christian clergy to perform blessings.
Bite your thumb at
Bite your thumb at is formerly a mark of contempt, designed to provoke a quarrel, or to defy. "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Bowing, kneeling, kowtowing
A bow is a gesture of respect involving lowering the head, usually performed by a social inferior to a social superior. Various cultures have different degrees or ways of performing the bow; China and Japan are particularly associated with elaborate and formal bowing. Bowing is also done by many groups as a ritual associated with prayer. In the Western world, women curtsey rather than bow. Kneel ing and "kowtowing" are more extreme or elaborate forms of self-abasement before a social superior.
Clenched fist
A raised, clenched fist is used as a gesture of defiance by a number of groups. It is usually considered to be hostile, yet without any sexual, scatological, or notionally offensive connotations. It is especially associated with Communists and with other nationalist or ethnic revolutionary or would-be revolutionary movements, and with the Black Power movements of the 1960s in the United States. It is the custom to make this gesture while singing The Internationale, the Marxist anthem.
Crossing oneself
The "sign of the Cross" is the use of the right hand to touch the forehead, chest, right shoulder, and left shoulder respectively. It represents the Christian cross.
This gesture is used by Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and some other Christian groups in prayers, to perform blessings, and as a salute before entering a church or similar place of religious significance. It is also used in various kinds of Christian folk religion to avert evil or bad luck.
Eye-rolling
This is when a person moves his or her pupils to the top of their eyes to indicate (according to Garfield's Insults, Put-Downs, and Slams) that some "lower life-form is wasting your valuable time" or as a sign of frustration.
Fig sign
This is the forming of a fist in such a way that one's thumb pokes out between the middle and index fingers. In many cultures, it signifies "screw you". Alternately, carved images of hands in this gesture are used as good luck talismans in Brazil.
The finger
This is a fist with the middle finger extended. It appears to be universally understood as Censored page you. Performing this gesture is also called "flipping the bird" (see below). See: the finger
Flipping the bird
In countries where "the finger" is used (see above), "flipping the bird" usually refers to that gesture. In other regions, "flipping the bird" refers to the raising of the middle and index finger with the back of the hand directed at the recipient. It can mean "Peace" or "Victory" (see below) in some countries, but in Britain and some other countries it is an offensive gesture, equivalent to "the finger" (see above). Also see V sign.
"Gills"
This gesture involves holding the backs of the wrists against the jawline (with elbows outstretched) and then waggling one's fingers. It is used when one would normally say (sarcastically) "well aren't you clever?". It is peculiar to Scotland owing to its use in a Scottish TV sketch show.
Hand over heart
This gesture involves placing your right hand, palm outstretched and facing in, over your heart. Male hat or cap wearers typically remove their hats and hold them in this hand. It is used as a gesture of respect towards flags or during singing of a national anthem. In the United States, it is also performed as a part of the rituals of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Hang loose / shaka
Similar to American Sign Language letter "Y", this is where a fist is made with only the thumb and pinky finger extended, it is often associated with California, Hawaii, and any beach/surfer culture in general.
Note: In the Netherlands, this means 'Drop dead'.
Horns
This is a fist with the index and pinky finger extended. It has a variety of meanings, depending on culture and area. In some places, it is a sexual insult, charging a man with being a victim of cuckoldry. Some say that it is meant to ward off — or to bestow — the evil eye. It is also a representation of the Devil, and as such is used as a salute by fans of heavy metal music. If one reverses the extended fingers, one gets the "inverted heavy metal salute" which can be given as a reply to a heavy metal salute, and combined together into a "heavy metal lock", intertwining the two hands thus presented. In college sports in the United States, it is also associated with fans of the Texas Longhorns. See: Devil horns Sex
Italian elbow gesture
This is performed in two parts: first, the right hand is placed on the elbow of the left arm. The left arm is then raised (fist clenched) at the victim in a smooth and continuous motion. This gesture is associated with Italians and is a considered a more theatrical and physically exuberant version of The Finger, and may even be combined with The Finger by Italian-Americans. This gesture is also in use in France, where it is usually translated as va te faire foutre, still meaning "fuck off."
Kozakiewicz's gesture
The gesture above is known in Poland as Kozakiewicz's gesture (gest Kozakiewicza), after Polish pole vault jumper Władysław Kozakiewicz , who after winning the gold medal and beating the world record during the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow had shown this gesture to the Russian public at the stadium. The crowd supported Soviet jumper Volkov (who came second) and was booing and whistling during Kozakiewicz's performance. Angered Kozakiewicz, after securing the gold medal, showed said gesture to the stadium. He later beat the then world record by clearing 578 cm. The meaning of this gesture is slightly different from the one it has in Italy. Its meaning can be translated as Fuck off, I am the boss. [1] http://polskaludowa.com/wydarzenia/Kozakiewicz.htm
Knocking on wood
This signifies the neutralization of a jinxing brought on by either mentioning a hoped-for or feared result. Usually this is only valid if done on bare (ie. unpainted) wood.
Live long and prosper
This is a raised hand, palm outward, fingers extended, with the index and middle finger kept close together, and the ring and pinky finger close together, with a 'V' shaped space between them. This is associated with the phrase "Live long and prosper," and derives from Star Trek, where it is used as a salute by the fictional humanoid species of Vulcans. See also: Vulcan salute.
It was introduced by Leonard Nimoy in his character of Mr. Spock and is drawn directly from the benedictory gesture made with both hands by a Kohen (priest in Judaism, a descendant of Aaron) during the priestly blessing (Hebrew: Birkath Kohanim). The Kohanim recite a blessing while performing this "gesture", and the other congregrant respond with Amens.
Nose thumbing
For this gesture, also known as "cocking a snoot", the thumb is placed on the tip of the nose, with the remaining fingers of the hand extended and waggled freely. This gesture is ended with a dramatic flicking of the thumb away from the end of the nose and towards the recipient. In the United States, it conveys a general message of contempt.
To add emphasis, the gesture can be made using both hands, connecting them by touching the little finger of the first hand with the thumb of the second, and waggling the remaining seven fingers. It is frequently accompanied in the United States by the utterance of a Bronx cheer.
OK
This is the touching of the index and middle finger (or just index finger) with the thumb (forming a rough circle) with the raising of the remaining fingers. In the United States, it means "OK" and is inoffensive. In most other cultures it is a sexual or scatological gesture referring to a bodily orifice.
Peace / "V" for Victory
Richard Nixon gives the V-sign one last time after resigning from the presidency.
This is the reverse side of "flipping the bird," made by lifting the middle and index finger with the palm of the hand facing the recipient (and the remaining fingers clenched). It was associated with the catchphrase "V" for Victory in World War II. In the 1960s, it came to be known as the "peace sign," the gestural equivalent of the peace symbol. It was associated with British prime minister Winston Churchill during World War II, and later, with U.S. president Richard Nixon. The sign also was famously misused by George H. W. Bush in Australia, where he intended to make the peace sign at protesters, but did it the "wrong way" causing great furor in the Australian tabloids. See also V sign.
Salute
There are many forms of salute gestures, which are used to denote respect or obedience for an authority. A common military hand salute consists of raising the right hand, held flat, to the right eyebrow. Scouting organizations use related salutes. The armies of various countries adopt slightly different forms of salute; in the United States, the military salute places the hand directed outward over the eyebrow, like a visor; in the United Kingdom armed forces, the hand is brought to the forehead palm outward.
Sieg Heil
This gesture is performed by making a fist with the right hand and placing it over the heart, thumping the chest, then by extending the whole right arm, palm outstretched and facing down, upwards into the air at approximately a 45 degree angle from the ground. This gesture is associated with Nazism and its leader Adolf Hitler as well as with Germany during World War II. It is occasionally performed to mock someone or something for perceived authoritarianism. This gesture was based on the Roman salute, and it was in that capacity that it was revived by Benito Mussolini's Fascist party; it is now tainted by its association with Nazism and Fascism. Today in many countries it is forbidden by law to perform this gesture.
The Shocker
Thumb and ring finger close inside palm while the rest of the fingers stay fully extended. It is an obscene sign associated with a way of masturbate a women, two fingers going in the vagina (index and middle finger) and the pinky finger into the anus, or as it is said "Two in the pink, one in the stink".
Thumbs up, thumbs down
A closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward is a gesture of approval or disapproval respectively. These gestures have become metaphors in English: "My boss gave my proposal the thumbs-up" means that the boss approved the proposal, regardless of whether the gesture was made -- indeed, the gesture itself is unlikely in a business setting.
This gesture was originally linked with Roman gladiatorial matches, in which the audience would indicate thus whether the victorious combatant should kill the loser. In Latin, the "thumbs up" gesture is called pollice recto, "thumbs down" is pollice verso. It is not certain that the contemporary gestures are identical to the gestures performed in ancient Rome. The current version was popularized by a widely reproduced academic painting by the 19th century artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, whose Pollice Verso depicts a triumphant gladiator standing over a fallen foe, looking up into the bleachers for the verdict of the crowd.
More recently, these gestures are associated with movie reviews, having been popularized by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert in their televised reviews -- the thumb up meaning a positive opinion of a film; the thumb down meaning a negative one. Two thumbs up, held over the head, may also be used by athletes in celebration of a victory.
"T" for 'timeout'
The 'timeout' gesture - a 'T' formed with the hands, with one hand with flat palm placed perpendicular to the other hand with flat palm, roughly in the center - originates in American sports. It was (and is) used where a brief pause in play is called for, to make substitutions etc. Nowadays the gesture is used in the US and in Britain to quieten children, or calm participants in a heated argument.
This is where a loose fist (with all fingers forming a cylindrical shape) is made, and shaken up and down (or sometimes, back and fourth) at the wrist. The gesture is imitative of the motions of male Censored page, which gives the gesture its meaning.
Gesture as a mating ritual
Many animals, including humans, use gestures to initiate a mating ritual . This may include an elabourate dance among others.
Mooning
Mooning is the exposure of the buttocks towards a person or people. The mooner (usually male) opens his pants, turns around to face away from the target, and drops the pants while bending over. Mooning is a crude gesture of contempt or defiance.
See also
Last updated: 02-06-2005 04:31:51
Last updated: 05-03-2005 17:50:55
