I thought of two more! (Maybe you can tell that I find body language fascinating too!) In Taiwan when mothers scold naughty children they brush their index and middle fingers across their own cheeks repeatedly. It means "You're losing face!"
In Southeast Asia it's an insult to point your feet at people, especially ones you're talking to. I guess you have to point your feet slightly outward, away from them. And you can't prop your feet up or stretch them out in front of you for the same reason.
@rheya19 Yeah Even it bothers me, for some reason, when I'm talking to someone and they've got their feet up, and I'm facing the bottom of their shoes or feet!
Also, try googling "roman elementary mathematics" and look for a University of Chicago website. The Romans could count to 10,000 using nothing but their two hands! Apparently in the markets you could see vendors and shoppers passionately gesticulating at each other as they haggled! Those Italians do love to gesture when they're talking!
In India, they tip their heads from side to side to agree or say "ok."
In Taiwan they point their index finger up and retract and extend it repeatedly to indicate "death" or "died."
In East Asia in general they point at their faces (the nose) when talking about themselves, while in America we point at our chests.
In Japan and other parts of East Asia they give and receive things with both hands to be polite. The polite way to offer things is to point at it with an open hand, palm up.
Hey MagicMaximo! I'm writing to you from Hungary. We start counting on our thumb, followed by our grooming, middle, ring and little finger. For us the American way seems to be too complicated because from our point of view you do not follow the natural order of the fingers. Nice video. Thank you!
Very interesting video. My parents are Mexican and I live in Italy, so I've seen a lot of these hand gestures. I'll think of some new ones, and get back to you.
There is a good clip on here on Italian hand gestures. The guys name is Tosolini. It's a great video. I learned most of the Gestures from being stationed in Europe in the Service for over 8 years. Cultures, language and comunication and gestures something of interest. Us Cubans.....snap their index finger to thumb and second finger held together. This is ephasize cono! or damit that's crazy! or out of hand.
More Italian gestures.....twist their index finger into their cheek. It means good like your talking about food being good. That Conosco Mosco you did...the Italians use that when they refer to be caucious of someone. In Spain when they say a person is gay or funny, Mo(N)a...they brush their cheek on their face with their index finger. I saw this use in Andalucia. In Saudi Arabia an insult is to shake your left hand in the air at someone. The left hand is the wiping hand. lol...
Hi, I'm from Brazil and here we use a similar gesture like mexican use for rich guys, but here we shake the hand and this means "pun" (trocadilho- in Brazil)
In the Philippines, women (and feminine men...ahem) have a unique way of placing their hand on their hip. They bend their hand downward so that their knuckles and top of their hand are touching the hip- as opposed to placing the PALM of the hand on the hip with the thumb towards the lower back as an anchor. You may have already witnessed that gesture when you were over there. I'm wondering if other women of different cultures do it that way or if it's something unique to Filipino culture.
You probably know this already because of your filipina wife, but you know how westerners just point in a direction with their finger to point out where an object is. In Philippines, what they do nakakatawa talaga (i hope i got that right for your tutorial vid), they point with their lips!
Great job, and great mental disposition. I'm from Italy, we talk with the hands. But hand gesture is different also between south and north of my country. According to yor video, seems like I "talk" as your wife do. :) In south Italy, the hand gesture is more theatral and more important. Here in the north, we have more complex facial expressions in combination with a soft gesture. I think that in USA is only know the south-italian mask, but in northern Italy you may have some problem... :)
by the way: at 0:20 you're talkin' about "I know how you are". The correct italian version is "Ti conosco, mascherina!" [try this pronunce: tee co'noszco, maske'reena!] that letterally mean "I know who you are, under that little mask!", or "that mask is too little to cover your face and who you really are". Basically your conclusion. Note that the same gesture can also mean an aggressive "Keep tracking you, I will survey you, you're under my lens, from now on", if you don't apply a smile inside.
Couple of thing I could say for you, is that the OK sign, in some cultures, represent the "anus" , and it's very offensive/aggressive. I don't know if intended like "I will f**k your ass", or "you're a fa**ot, you're not a real man". Here we have two distincted gesture for this, and the OK sign means the same that for you.
The "finger" is not very interesting, but the british two-fingers version come from the archery that easely destroy french soldiers in an epic battle, "whit only two fingers!"
I like the explanation about the height. In Colombia, if you want to show the height of an animal, you must do the gesture that in Mexico people use to show the height of people and vice versa... I'm from Venezuela and it doesn't happen in here, because we show the height of everything like you show it.
did you know that codo is seem as more negative than what you said it meant. I know some people from Oaxaca & Nayarit & both say that 'codo' is a very negative thing to say to someone (it means your family & you are extremely cheap bastards) just wanted to cue you in on that. Thanks for posting the vid... it was very interesting
In high school, my girlfriend and my best friends girlfriend would keep making hand gestures between each other about us but had no idea what they meant. So my friend and I would rub the palms of our hands together and look at each other approvingly. We never declared a meaning for the gesture and this frustrated our girlfriends constantly when we would say it meant nothing!!
Hola! I loved your videos, I think they'r cute and really intresting! I'm argentinian, so we have many hand gestures for the spanish and the italian culture, we are very "handy" wen we speek (sorry, my gramar is awfull). The hands gestures cought my attention in the movies, you know an american, indian, japanese, korean, they all have different ways of comunication; I think it's important, if you are learning a lenguage, to know how they "speek" with they'r hands. Sorry for the long comment!
'Te conozco, mosco!' is common in Colombia, too. Conversely, I had never heard the expression 'Te conozco, bacalao.' Now, what felixenrique82 is totally true about Colombia. We have two gestures to show height. We hold the palm down for animals and objects while the palm held vertically is used to show people's height. It's interesting to learn that Mexicans actually have three distinct gestures for height.
I thought of two more! (Maybe you can tell that I find body language fascinating too!) In Taiwan when mothers scold naughty children they brush their index and middle fingers across their own cheeks repeatedly. It means "You're losing face!"
In Southeast Asia it's an insult to point your feet at people, especially ones you're talking to. I guess you have to point your feet slightly outward, away from them. And you can't prop your feet up or stretch them out in front of you for the same reason.
rheya19 1 year ago
@rheya19 Yeah Even it bothers me, for some reason, when I'm talking to someone and they've got their feet up, and I'm facing the bottom of their shoes or feet!
MagicMaximo 1 year ago
Also, try googling "roman elementary mathematics" and look for a University of Chicago website. The Romans could count to 10,000 using nothing but their two hands! Apparently in the markets you could see vendors and shoppers passionately gesticulating at each other as they haggled! Those Italians do love to gesture when they're talking!
rheya19 1 year ago
In India, they tip their heads from side to side to agree or say "ok."
In Taiwan they point their index finger up and retract and extend it repeatedly to indicate "death" or "died."
In East Asia in general they point at their faces (the nose) when talking about themselves, while in America we point at our chests.
In Japan and other parts of East Asia they give and receive things with both hands to be polite. The polite way to offer things is to point at it with an open hand, palm up.
rheya19 1 year ago
@rheya19 Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
MagicMaximo 1 year ago
Hey MagicMaximo! I'm writing to you from Hungary. We start counting on our thumb, followed by our grooming, middle, ring and little finger. For us the American way seems to be too complicated because from our point of view you do not follow the natural order of the fingers. Nice video. Thank you!
gabriellabaka 1 year ago
@gabriellabaka Thanks for sharing. It's interesting, too, that what we call the "index" finger you call the "grooming" finger.
MagicMaximo 1 year ago
Very interesting video. My parents are Mexican and I live in Italy, so I've seen a lot of these hand gestures. I'll think of some new ones, and get back to you.
betsiecow 2 years ago
There is a good clip on here on Italian hand gestures. The guys name is Tosolini. It's a great video. I learned most of the Gestures from being stationed in Europe in the Service for over 8 years. Cultures, language and comunication and gestures something of interest. Us Cubans.....snap their index finger to thumb and second finger held together. This is ephasize cono! or damit that's crazy! or out of hand.
flojogrande 2 years ago
Haha! Fantastic. Thanks for sharing!
MagicMaximo 2 years ago
More Italian gestures.....twist their index finger into their cheek. It means good like your talking about food being good. That Conosco Mosco you did...the Italians use that when they refer to be caucious of someone. In Spain when they say a person is gay or funny, Mo(N)a...they brush their cheek on their face with their index finger. I saw this use in Andalucia. In Saudi Arabia an insult is to shake your left hand in the air at someone. The left hand is the wiping hand. lol...
flojogrande 2 years ago
Hi, I'm from Brazil and here we use a similar gesture like mexican use for rich guys, but here we shake the hand and this means "pun" (trocadilho- in Brazil)
natealgoassim 2 years ago
Thanks for the info. Very interesting!
MagicMaximo 2 years ago
In the Philippines, women (and feminine men...ahem) have a unique way of placing their hand on their hip. They bend their hand downward so that their knuckles and top of their hand are touching the hip- as opposed to placing the PALM of the hand on the hip with the thumb towards the lower back as an anchor. You may have already witnessed that gesture when you were over there. I'm wondering if other women of different cultures do it that way or if it's something unique to Filipino culture.
sh97 2 years ago
You probably know this already because of your filipina wife, but you know how westerners just point in a direction with their finger to point out where an object is. In Philippines, what they do nakakatawa talaga (i hope i got that right for your tutorial vid), they point with their lips!
xkathxlollyx 2 years ago
Great job, and great mental disposition. I'm from Italy, we talk with the hands. But hand gesture is different also between south and north of my country. According to yor video, seems like I "talk" as your wife do. :) In south Italy, the hand gesture is more theatral and more important. Here in the north, we have more complex facial expressions in combination with a soft gesture. I think that in USA is only know the south-italian mask, but in northern Italy you may have some problem... :)
nybras66 3 years ago
Thanks for sharing. I learn a lot from your comments.
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
by the way: at 0:20 you're talkin' about "I know how you are". The correct italian version is "Ti conosco, mascherina!" [try this pronunce: tee co'noszco, maske'reena!] that letterally mean "I know who you are, under that little mask!", or "that mask is too little to cover your face and who you really are". Basically your conclusion. Note that the same gesture can also mean an aggressive "Keep tracking you, I will survey you, you're under my lens, from now on", if you don't apply a smile inside.
nybras66 3 years ago
Couple of thing I could say for you, is that the OK sign, in some cultures, represent the "anus" , and it's very offensive/aggressive. I don't know if intended like "I will f**k your ass", or "you're a fa**ot, you're not a real man". Here we have two distincted gesture for this, and the OK sign means the same that for you.
The "finger" is not very interesting, but the british two-fingers version come from the archery that easely destroy french soldiers in an epic battle, "whit only two fingers!"
nybras66 3 years ago
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
cool video
thanks
celinion 3 years ago
I like the explanation about the height. In Colombia, if you want to show the height of an animal, you must do the gesture that in Mexico people use to show the height of people and vice versa... I'm from Venezuela and it doesn't happen in here, because we show the height of everything like you show it.
felixenrique82 3 years ago
Thank you so much for sharing. I love learning new things like that!
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
Interesting vid :D
I actually don't think "codo" is a very negative word, at least in the North of México. But of course it depends on the way you say it.
By the way, in México we say "come here" and "get out of here" the same way as in the Philippines.
Sorry for my english.
Pracaloid 3 years ago
did you know that codo is seem as more negative than what you said it meant. I know some people from Oaxaca & Nayarit & both say that 'codo' is a very negative thing to say to someone (it means your family & you are extremely cheap bastards) just wanted to cue you in on that. Thanks for posting the vid... it was very interesting
4capulina 3 years ago
wow! No, I sure didn't know that it had THAT negative a meaning. Thanks for the tip.
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
In high school, my girlfriend and my best friends girlfriend would keep making hand gestures between each other about us but had no idea what they meant. So my friend and I would rub the palms of our hands together and look at each other approvingly. We never declared a meaning for the gesture and this frustrated our girlfriends constantly when we would say it meant nothing!!
voodookittyrob 3 years ago
haha I love it!
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
Hola! I loved your videos, I think they'r cute and really intresting! I'm argentinian, so we have many hand gestures for the spanish and the italian culture, we are very "handy" wen we speek (sorry, my gramar is awfull). The hands gestures cought my attention in the movies, you know an american, indian, japanese, korean, they all have different ways of comunication; I think it's important, if you are learning a lenguage, to know how they "speek" with they'r hands. Sorry for the long comment!
delfinae 3 years ago
Yes, I agree about needing to know the "hand speak" of others. Thanks for your comments.
MagicMaximo 3 years ago
Very good if perhaps a little bit too wordy.
drew511 4 years ago
haha, ok, I'll try not to be too wordy in my videos.
MagicMaximo 4 years ago
'Te conozco,mosco'!(???) HA HA! never in my whole life heard of that one! LOL!
'Te conozco,bacalao' is more commonly used.
PoorRicky 4 years ago
haha..believe me, I'm not making it up :=)
MagicMaximo 4 years ago
'Te conozco, mosco!' is common in Colombia, too. Conversely, I had never heard the expression 'Te conozco, bacalao.' Now, what felixenrique82 is totally true about Colombia. We have two gestures to show height. We hold the palm down for animals and objects while the palm held vertically is used to show people's height. It's interesting to learn that Mexicans actually have three distinct gestures for height.
cheeptrix 2 years ago
Hey! that's such a great idea...would like to share but got no videocamera to join in the youtube fun just yet :(
Now in 2008,promise to learn how to film and upload videos...definetly me knows some signs in many cultures.
see ya
PoorRicky 4 years ago
Wow, thanks for sharing. I encourage everyone to click on JLC981 link and watch the vids. They're very interesting!
MagicMaximo 4 years ago
(Sorry, that was a gesture from JAPAN.)
JLC981 4 years ago
Put your hand in front of your face length wise. (Like praying hands with just one hand)
Now move it back and forth like a windshield wiper. That means "no", "no thanks," or just a general negative response.
JLC981 4 years ago
Me, Temilira again, thank you very much for posting this video.
Temilira 4 years ago
Thanks for your comments.
MagicMaximo 4 years ago