Hey Pandas, Are There Any Hand Gestures Used In Your Culture That Mean Something Different In Another Culture? (Closed)

For instance, in America, pulling on a child's nose and then showing them your thumb between your first two fingers, "I've got your nose!" But in Japan, that hand gesture is a crude symbol of sexual intercourse. Very embarrassing!

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Not exactly the same, but if you do the 'peace' sign with two fingers and accidentally face them towards you instead of away, it is the same as the 'rude' finger in some European countries.

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Huddo's sister

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At an Italian restaurant as a kid. I scratched under my chin with my whole hand. Like, putting your head on your fist but I scratched instead. An Italian woman began yelling at me in Italian. Still have no idea what it meant but she kept pointing to my hand and my chin and imitating what I’d done. My mom told me I did some gesture that was like a middle finger but I don’t know if she was right. That’s the closest I’ve got to a cultural difference with gestures.

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Kyndal T

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Huddo's sister 2 years ago

Unfortunately it is similar to the Auslan (Australian sign language) for 'thank you' too. In the sign you start with your fingers on your chin instead of under it though.

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Not sure if this counts but dialect is interesting in sign language cause where I live the sign for 'lettuce' means 'trash' in New England

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The deadist of pans️‍️

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Joel Strauss 2 years ago

Wow! I had no idea they were so different!

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When diving the two thumbs up sign is help me I'm drowning

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Wannabe awesome

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Jette Wang Wahnon 2 years ago

Out of the water it means Well done or Go for it !

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Um, I'm not entirely sure if this is true, but when I was younger, we always thought that sticking your pinky up in China was like giving someone the middle finger, but when you're drinking something it's the polite and fancy thing to do (like sticking out your pinky while drinking tea in Britain).

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Madeleine Flowers

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CATMONSTER2018 2 years ago

Yea.. Apparently if means that the person you are "flipping off" has a small PP

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I didn’t know till a few years ago that the American “peace sign” gesture in many other countries is actually “‘V’ for victory”.

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Eve

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Joel Strauss 2 years ago

I believe that it meant victory in the States, too, until the flower children of the 60s and 70s made it their own. But I'll have to check that. Thanks!

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In Portugal and latin countries as such showing your index finger and little finger to some-one is insulting..can mean anything from F you to your wife cheated on you...in Denmark it is completely different..a casual high 5 compliment between two guys... Many years ago my father visited for a business trip and asked my P husband to accompany him for inter-pretation.So far so good...till my father,proud of his daughter ...and son-in-law told the factory owner that my husband was GREAT... and showed the sign....My husband just wanted to disappear in a cloud because my father essentially told that his prescious daughter was a «hoe«

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Jette Wang Wahnon

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