I'll save this to read for later - the topic fascinates me. I was reading Gladwell's recent collection, What The Dog Saw, and found the article on The Dog Whisperer very interesting because of its discussions on body language.
Yeah sorry I felt this chapter was probably a good intro to the resource and probably most easily applicable to the majority US audience in a business setting. However I did supply a blurb, where has that gone?
I think this was the excerpt/teaser I chose:
>In Japan it can mean 'money'; if you're doing business in Japan and you make this sign for 'OK' a Japanese may think you're asking them for a bribe. In some Mediterranean countries it's an orifice signal, often used to infer that a man is homosexual. Show a Greek man the OK signal and he may thinkyou're inferring you or he is gay, while a Turk might thinkyou're calling him an 'arsehole'. It's rare in Arab countries where it is used as either a threat signal or as an obscenity.
>In the 1950s, before he became President, Richard Nixon visited Latin America on a goodwill tour to try to patch up strained relations with the locals. As he stepped out of his plane he showed the waiting crowds the American 'OK' signal and was stunned as they began booing and hissing at him Being unaware of local body language customs, Nixon's OK signal had been read as 'You're all a bunch of arseholes.'
that woul be true for most non verbal human communications, I'm afraid.
My latest experience is with Norwegians, who seem to make an aspirated "uh!" sound for the equivalent of the conversational "mh-mh, keep going".
I thought for a while they were perpetually stupefied people.
Here's a picture of George W Bush using the signature gesture of the Texas Longhorn football team, of which he is a supporter. The index finger and little finger represent the horns of the bull and this football gesture is recognized by most Americans.
In Italy this gesture is known as the 'Cuckold' and is used to tell a man that other men are screwing his wife. In 1985, five Americans were arrested in Rome for jubilantly dancing and using this gesture outside the Vatican following the news of a major Longhorns win in the USA.
I find it strange, perhaps ironic, that an association devoted to learning how to best present oneself has such horrible web design. It isn't just this link; the front page (http://westsidetoastmasters.com/) is actually much worse.
I took a look at Chapter 6 (about thumbs) and noticed something that I get a very different signal from. There's a picture of a woman with her hands in her pockets with the thumbs exposed. The writer suggests this is a sign of authority, but to me it feels either like a flirty signal or a sign of readiness or expectancy (which obviously can go hand in hand). It kind of gives me the same vibe as the 'face platter', but in this case the woman is showing off her figure instead of her face.
From the selected examples in the article it looks like the biggest mistakes one could make would be in Greece and the Mediterranean. Many of the hand gestures which are innocuous in the West are quite vulgar in the Mediterranean area.
I think this is just old. Some obvious missing ones for the U.S. (any background I've provided is personal conjecture):
* The palm-outward vee has meant "peace" since at least the 1960's, and was associated with anti-Vietnam protests and the Hippie movement.
* The vee palm-in and tilted to the side also means "peace" or likely "peace out" or "see you later". Around since probably the mid-to-late 1990's and associated with hip-hop culture.
* The index and pinky outstretched is the "rock horns" (symbolizing demons or the devil), which you would use to mean "awesome" or "bad-ass". Around since the rise of heavy metal music (late 70's, early 80's).
It's certainly in need of a second version and some editorial oversight but I think the core is good. For example under the "what do these hand signs mean" part I was expecting the OK sign to also say "wanker" as with movement and orientation this is a UK version. OK is definetly out of use here (as a hand sign) and thumbs up is quite childish/dated (like saying "fab").
As far as the 'thumbs up sign' goes, it's still common enough that it's hard for novice scuba divers to remember that it means 'ascend now' rather than 'everything's OK'.
I guess it was probably written by an American. Also the meaning of hand gestures changes over time, so some of them might have been rude in the past, but are safe now.
Reading through this book, I got the feeling that there was a lot of excellent information alongside a lot of very questionable or dated information, and it can be hard to tell the difference.
I'll save this to read for later - the topic fascinates me. I was reading Gladwell's recent collection, What The Dog Saw, and found the article on The Dog Whisperer very interesting because of its discussions on body language.