# Poll: Do you gesture with your hands when you talk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2023, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744 "2023-08-18T00:18:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/21 "2023-08-18T15:42:16Z")
I’m not sure that I do it that often, but I’m comparing it to how often my husband and his (Italian) family do it, and it’s all the time for them. He made a funny video just panning around the room at a wedding recently and everyone is gesticulating wildly throughout their inaudible conversations. The only time this truly annoys me is when my husband is giving me a backrub and he starts getting into the conversation so much he stops rubbing my back so he can gesticulate. It’s a challenge finding the right subject matter that is not too boring for us to talk about but not so exciting he stops rubbing my back. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/22 "2023-08-18T19:25:26Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I think I always have, I will defend it as it just seems to be a learned by early observation trait among Italian-Americans from NYC. I didn’t move to NJ (home of many Italian-Americans) until my 20s, and I was already using my hands for gesturing while talking. My mother has asked me to put down a knife while talking at the dinner table. Living in Switzerland hasn’t helped. I gesture when speaking in English and German. My husband says he knows when I’m thinking by my hand gestures and moving lips. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/23 "2023-08-18T20:06:37Z")
one reason i took asl in college was so that gestures would match up with speech. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/24 "2023-08-18T20:22:57Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I didn’t move to NJ (home of many Italian-Americans) By percentage, we’re the most Italian-American State. And by a small margin Italian-Americans are the most represented group in NJ. Then German and Irish. Unless you lump all Hispanics together, than they’re #1. We’re also have the second highest percentage of Jewish people after NY. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/25 "2023-08-18T22:23:18Z")
I do too. There are worse habits, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/26 "2023-08-19T00:10:19Z")
I’m not Italian. I usually don’t use my hands when talking. I’m not from NYC. I don’t use my finger when driving. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-do-you-gesture-with-your-hands-when-you-talk/988744/27 "2023-08-19T14:39:31Z")
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