in the U.S. has pretty awful meanings elsewhere. Just ask any traveler who's given a thumbs-up in Afghanistan. THUMBS UP TRE'QUAN SMITH, WR That's a lot of thumbs-up haters. In other words, it’s the opposite of what we think.”, Historical confusion about that thumb-pressing gesture exposes just how difficult it can be to track the evolution of body language. In the 1930s the phrase shows up occasionally in TIME’s pages, and in both the OED citations and TIME annals it gains popularity during World War II. Ad by Credit Secrets It's true - her credit score went from 588 to 781 with this. Then, in 1872 the popular and influential painter Jean-Léon Gérôme, well, turned things upside-down a bit. Some hand gestures that are innocent in the United States are offensive in other countries. Don’t make a “fig”. since. We have some sculptural references but it’s mostly verbal references,” says Anthony Corbeill, a professor of Latin at the University of Virginia, who wrote a book on gestures in ancient Rome. Example: A: give me your sandwich. “Sparing is pressing the thumb to the top of the fist and death is a thumbs-up. Touching another person has special significance in India and is appropriate only in certain situations. This form of street harassment is also unacceptable as it asserts domination over another gender. People will likely be more bemused than hurt if you slip up. Account active But you can still use it offensively, too. The worlds official source for memes. “The verb premere in latin is just as ambiguous as ‘press’ in English,” he says. https://stepfeed.com/8-normal-signs-and-gestures-that-can-be- And what about the gesture for the death blow? Don't cross your fingers in Vietnam, give a thumbs up in Greece... or beckon someone over in the Philippines: Infographic reveals the most offensive gestures around the world Iraqis are giving passing Americans the “thumbs up” sign, which the troops interpret as a symbol of support. You can unsubscribe at any time. The thumb turned, extending from the hand, was translated from Latin as a sign of “disapprobation” in a number of instances that the Oxford English Dictionary records. This includes sitting with one's feet or foot elevated. The thumbs-up gesture … If you want to gesture to someone or call them, don’t point your finger at them. In other words, the very people who might have been expected to be most familiar with a gesture that supposedly originated where they live saw it as a recent, foreign addition. Or is there some sort of joke there about it where everyone knows what it means, but they use it rudely anyway? New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Some gestures and actions are considered offensive in India though, so brush up on your cross-cultural etiquette before visiting. These gestures have become metaphors in English: "The audience gave the movie the thumbs-up" means that … But, while the painting helps explain confusion over Roman history, it doesn’t actually explain where modern usage comes from. Sign up for a daily selection of our best stories — based on your reading preferences. In most cultures, crossing your fingers means you're hoping for good luck. It’s typically a child’s gesture, the Thai equivalent of sticking out your tongue. They surveyed 1,200 participants from 40 locations to better understand how the gesture was understood, and found that though 738 of them agreed on the positive meaning (approximately “O.K.”), there were a few secondary meanings (the number one, a sexual insult and hitch-hiking among them) and many Italians thought of it as “a ‘new thing’ imported by the American G.I.s during the war.” Many even called it “The American O.K.”. So next time you're trying to hitchhike in, say, Tuscany, you should reconsider before sticking out your thumb. Forearm jerk. There, the gesture is thought to resemble female genitals, and making it is similar to giving the middle finger. I learnt this today in communications class that the "thumbs up" gesture is extremely offensive to people in the Middle East, is the like button offensive to people from there? Try to avoid it in Thailand, though, where it’s a sign of condemnation. Thumbs up gesture like a nerdy tourist a man whistling with a sexual in... 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