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28 February 2008

Expressive hand gestures

Italian language is reach on expressive hand gestures, they are different from region to region and the most popular is this way of communication in Naples, I think. First of all, because historical origins of this language is different as in other parts of Italy. For different centuries kings of the region had roots in Catalonia, so the dialect of Naples is more easily comprehensive for Catalonians as for Italians -and the gestures dialect too.

The best example is "yes".
What do you do, when you say "yes"? Probably you bend your head forward down-up.
If you are Bulgarian, you rock it left-right.
Neapolitan click with the tongue and bend the head up-back.

Nothing terrible, if you don't understand it.

Sometimes gestures language is not so innocent as we think about it. When you plan a trip in a place that you did not visit before, you have to control the most popular and offensive gestures common for that place. To understand where they've sent you, at least.

An other popular gesture is "ok"
Something like in this photo.
Very well -if you are American or Russian
Great job -the hand moves from right to left "closing a zip" -in Italy

but......
it has indecent sense in Brazil
offensive -you are zero -if you show it to a person in France or Germany
money -in Japan
I'll kill you -in Tunisia
Go to devil -in Siria

Do you understand? Take your hands well bended, when you travel!

Different sources. Maybe not very attendible (my opinion). Correct me, if you find errors.

6 comments:

  1. If people speak with hands, it would be a quiet world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. :)) I think, we would begin to make noice with everything we find under the hand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remembered watching a stand up comedy on hand gestures. Somehow this post this post reminds me of it :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. You would come here, in Sud Italy to see this comedy in real life. :))) No, it's really interesting. You can undertand what are the persons speaking about just looking at them from the other part of the street.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is interesting.
    In Singapore we use the OK sign to indicate that everything is fine.
    I thought that was universal.
    Haha, not now!
    Thanks for this travel tip.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi, evelyn,
    glad to see you here.
    yes, some things we do not think, because we are sure that everywhere is the same as we do... and the "aborigens" laugh about us. It's their main "theater" I think.

    ReplyDelete

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