# Hand gestures that are good in one country, bad in another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955 "2006-01-14T12:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/41 "2006-01-18T15:51:06Z")
I got confused by the Indian head-wobble for yes…until I worked it out, and then spent a few weeks after I got back saying “Ha, Ha” and doing it myself when I wanted to say yes…which in turn confused my husband. Working with kids you need to ask them to come over to you quite a lot, and to explain things to them. I found it quite hard to remember not to beckon them with my palm upwards (it’s rude, like in SE Asia, you have to do it with the palm downwards) and not to point to things or pat the kids on the head when they’d done a good job. Eye-contact is another thing. In the West it means that you’re being open, honest, attentive, respectful, in Australian Aboriginal culture it’s seen as disrespectful and aggressive to look at people in the eye. So I spent a lot of time talking to patients who spent the entire interview looking at their shoes…weird until you know why. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/42 "2006-01-18T15:58:28Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > Working with kids you need to ask them to come over to you quite a lot, and to explain things to them. I found it quite hard to remember not to beckon them with my palm upwards (it’s rude, like in SE Asia, you have to do it with the palm downwards) and not to point to things or pat the kids on the head when they’d done a good job. I was going to mention the head thing too; in several cultures (India, some Asian and SE Asian, some American Indian) touching another’s head without permission is insulting, so the patting of children on the head is a no-no. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/43 "2006-01-18T16:03:15Z")
Desmond Morris has a densely il;lustrated book out on this caled , I think, **Gestures**. The book also has maps showing where in the world such gesturesd are used, and where the meaning changes. This being Morris, I’d check other refs for corroboration, but it’s an interesting little book. (Actually, it’s a big book – coffee-table book size) ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/44 "2006-01-18T16:13:12Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Friends of mine have told me that pointing with the lips is common in Columbia. We often point with our lips as a joke now. My Brazilian wife does this a lot too. She says it’s politer and less obvious than pointing with your finger or some other part of your body. Since I’m German I always think it’s an invitation to kiss her, which has led to some interesting situations. At least in northern Brazil you also beckon someone by putting your hand out with your palm down and then making the beckoning gesture. I had no idea what was meant the first time I saw that. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/45 "2006-01-18T16:14:10Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Friends of mine have told me that pointing with the lips is common in Columbia. We often point with our lips as a joke now. Older Navajos on the reservation point with their lips, sometimes with their chin. I believe that pointing with the finger was considered rude in traditional Navajo culture. It comes in handy when you’re working on something with your hands and someone else asks where a tool is. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/46 "2006-01-18T16:15:13Z")
I’ve been told by a native Italian that the thumb-flicking gesture starting at the mouth means “You’re just a baby, still sucking his mamma’s breast”. I’ve been told, don’t know if it’s true, that you can enrage a Greek by tugging at the knot in your necktie (or the spot where it would be if you were wearing one). That allegedly means “Your wife gave this to me”. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/47 "2006-01-18T16:50:14Z")
I just remembered a really funny TV program I saw in Hawaii that was intended for Japanese tourists. The lesson for the day was gestures. Japanese couple is sitting at a bus stop when a local sits down next to them. Local: “Hi.” Japanese couple: Smiles and nods Local: “Are you two together?” Japanese man, in gestures: points to woman (“she”), points to his nose (“is my”), holds up little finger (“wife or girlfriend”) Local, confused: “She… smells bad… and she’s a lesbian?” Japanese man: Smiles and nods Japanese woman, in gestures: points to man (“he”), points to her nose (“is my”), holds up thumb (“husband or boyfriend”) Local, more confused: He… smells bad too… but he’s ok?" Japanese woman: Smiles and nods Local: “Gee… uh… well, look at the time, guess I’ll see you guys around” ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/48 "2006-01-18T18:01:37Z")
> [@Dominic Mulligan](#): > > That game’s not limited to Germany, we used to play it, too (sometimes still do when drunk 😛 ). We played this in NW Indiana. There were variations: Different gestures warranted different numbers of hits. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955/49 "2006-01-18T19:58:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’ve been told, don’t know if it’s true, that you can enrage a Greek by tugging at the knot in your necktie (or the spot where it would be if you were wearing one). That allegedly means “Your wife gave this to me”. Ha! I know a Greek guy, and at the earliest opportunity, I intend to try this one out! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hand-gestures-that-are-good-in-one-country-bad-in-another/339955.md?page=2)