A newspaper column reports that Hawai’i is adopting an official hand gesture, the shaka, a welcoming gesture with the thumb and pinky extended and the remaining fingers curled downwards. Already ubiquitous, there is said to be a Shaka light on Honolulu busses that is displayed when drivers let them merge.
The columnist suggests gestures that might be appropriate for Ontario. These include the “gimme gimme” as spendthrift governments cry poor and blame other levels of government, or the “middle finger” now displayed at the most minimal provocation, even in Canada, as everyone appears to be in their last nerve.
Any “official” gestures that might be appropriate for your region?
They are not official, but they have become mainstream here: people hitching a lift with a small informal bus (which are referred to as taxis, a car is a taxi cab).
They go everywhere, so your hand signal matters, you need to display to the driver where you are going, because that taxi could be going anywhere.
I use certain hand gestures for hitchhikers. I pick them up pretty regularly. There is a large community of people who are struggling economically close to where my children live, and a mountain between my place, so when I am on that road without my kids, I often pick up strangers.
There’s the gesture, index finger entended, pointing down that says “going to somewhere very close”, the obvious pointing to left or right, the semi-salute to say “the car is full”.
None of these are official but they are understood.
Seems there are some kinda of hand signal if you don’t want to get on a certain elevator. Maybe you’re not going up. I have little experience but I remember something happening once. Sort of a slice in the air. Like go on with out me.
I learned most people do not understand many or any ASL signs. So they’re not used.
There are many signs that are appropriated. Like patting your chest for “Do you mean me”. Thumbs down can mean alot of things. Fingers to mouth means eat.
Fascinating subject to me.
Oh, btw you can teach signs to dogs. They can understand them quite easily.
Babies also. Before my granddaughter was born, I bought a book with signs for babies. She learned eat, drink, more and maybe a couple others (I don’t recall - she’s almost 6!!) I tried with my grandson, but he wasn’t receptive, or he thought I was nuts.
As for locally, I can’t think of any peculiar to this area. But I’ve used such things as pretending to write to let the server across the room that I wanted my check. There’s also the friendly wave when someone lets you in front of them while you’re driving. And, of course, the middle finger salute is pretty much universal.
There used to a system like that in Accra Ghana when I lived there a long time ago for shared taxis and minivans. Maybe it’s still active, I’m not sure. If you wanted to go downtown, you’d point in that direction with your right hand. If you wanted to go to the Kwame Nkrumah memorial circle you’d make a circling motion with your right hand, et cetera…
None of these were official, they just came about and were informally adopted.
This is probably not unique to rural Kansas where I grew up, but when I was a kid, whenever two vehicles would meet each other on a country road, the drivers (almost always local farmers) would ‘wave’ to each other by lifting one index finger from the steering wheel.
Raising you arm to stop the bus (buses do not stop at every bus stop, you need to signal them) it’s a carefully calibrated gesture, too low and the bus driver may not see it or correctly interpret it, too high and you look like a nazi.
(I see there’s the same issue when stopping a taxi)
The “bus stop” gesture can be a bit higher than the one shown in that picture.
(I admit I may be mistaken and other countries/regions have the same gesture for buses)
One of my kids teachers would use hand signals to control the classroom. Hand over mouth meant no talking. Hand patting down meant sit.
Patting hip meant your hands should be kept to yourself. There were more.
She had the most behaved classroom on the hall and never raised her voice.