Have you ever been warned not to use certain hand movements when traveling abroad? Can you tell where a person is coming from just by their hand movements? Why do the meanings of hand gestures differ so greatly in different countries?

Hand movements and communication

Humans communicate in many different ways. Speech is the most obvious method, but we also use non-verbal clues, such as facial expressions and body language.

We speak using the language of our country. However, did you know that hand gestures also have different meanings depending on where you were born?

Most importantly, we can recognize the hand gestures and body language cues of our fellow men and women. It’s a bit like how we use regional accents of spoken language to identify where a person is from. These non-verbal accents are the physical equivalent of this.

Why hand gestures are an important survival tool
The author of The Human Swarm, Mark Moffett, describes our need to belong to a particular group. Belonging to a group is beneficial to its individual members.

We are safer in a group, and we feel more comfortable with our group members. We trust them, they protect us, and they share the same values and beliefs as us. At the same time, we feel proud of the symbols that define our collection. We will even go to war to fight for our group.

Humans are attracted to those people who are members of their own group. We love familiarity. This is because we like to be able to predict the actions of others and belonging to a group allows us to do this. We don’t have that luxury with strangers.

Within groups and outside groups
The strangers in our group are foreign and unknown. Therefore, they can be dangerous, unpredictable, or a threat. So it’s important to get to know these strangers in our group.

There are many things that help us recognize these strangers or strangers. The clothes they wear and the way they talk. Now, experts know that their body language is also an indicator.

We can pick up on the smallest differences and this is important because as we move forward in life we have to make instant decisions. In the time of our ancestors, these decisions meant life or death. Knowing whether someone is a friend or an enemy could mean the difference between the complete annihilation of your family or the survival of your genes.

So identifying people who belong to our group is particularly important, and this is where specific body language traits, such as hand movements, can help us.

Now, it’s time to study hand gestures around the world.

8 Hand gestures with different meanings around the world

excellent

In Western society, thumb gestures mean that all is well or a sign of approval. However, in other parts of the world, it has negative meanings. This is thought to date back to Roman times when a thumbs-up sign meant a gladiator should die.

This thumb sign lost its negative connotations during World War XI after American pilots began using it to indicate their readiness to fly.

In countries like Japan and Germany, it simply means the number one. However, in the Middle East and parts of Europe, Russia and Latin America, it is a derogatory term and means “do it yourself”.

Horn fingers

The horn finger gesture, used by heavy metal rock bands for decades, indicates “keep rocking.” It is also used to depict the satanic salute because it represents the horns of the devil.

However, in Italy, Greece and Spain, it means that your wife is sleeping. It indicates a cuckolded husband where the wife cheats. In these countries, the word “cuckold” is the same as “horns.”

Interlocking fingers

Keeping your fingers crossed for someone is like wishing them good luck. However, in Vietnam, it is used to represent female genitalia and is seen as an insult.

‘Talk to the hand’

Extending your fingers with the palm facing outward and then shoving them in someone’s face is known as “talking to the hand” in the United States. It means “I’m not listening” or “I’m silent” and is considered a beautiful event.

In Greece, the meaning is more serious. It is called montza or motza and is considered a serious insult.

It is believed to have originated from the Byzantine era where criminals were rubbed with dirt on their faces and taunted by crowds. People take dirt and rub it on the criminals’ faces with their palms.

Pointing

Who would have thought that pointing with an index finger could have so many different meanings? In the United Kingdom and the United States, we use this gesture to draw attention to something. In the United States, it was used in advertising posters “Uncle Sam needs you” and interpreted as “You’re great.”

In Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria, they use their thumb to indicate numbers, so pointing with one finger means the number 2. China also uses this hand gesture to indicate the number 8.

In Eastern culture, referring to a human being is considered very rude and is only used for inanimate objects. In Italy, it is used to draw your attention to something bad.

OK

Touching your thumb and index finger to form a circle is known in the US and UK as “OK” but not everywhere. In many places, this is considered a rude gesture with different connotations.

For example, in Brazil, Greece and Spain, it is used to resemble a body part and means that you are calling someone an idiot. In France, it refers to “zero”, which means “you are nothing.”

In China it refers to the number 7, and in Japan it means money.

‘Come here’
Curling the index finger with the palm up is asking someone to come. However, in the Philippines, it is considered exceptionally rude and you can even be arrested for using it. Filipinos use this gesture only for dogs.

V sign

Finally, my favorite example of a hand gesture is the V sign for victory. It was adopted after the victory of the Allied forces in World War Eleven. It later became a symbol of peace in the 1960s and 1970s.

However, in some Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, South Africa and Ireland, placing two fingers in a V shape with the palm facing inward is tantamount to saying “fuck you” and is extremely rude.

It is believed that the insult of raising two fingers originated more than 500 years ago when the French were defeated at the Battle of Agincourt by Henry V. This battle was part of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.

Henry had lost most of his army to disease and was returning to the safety of English shores. But he fell into a trap where he was severely outnumbered by the best of the French army.

However, using longbows, he was able to defeat the French. In response, the French cut off two of the English archers’ fingers so that they could never fire a bow again. The English would raise those two fingers to the French to show that they had all their fingers and were still able to fight.