Any other gesture histories that would be worth following? Advertisements. Perhaps the most troublesome British gestures are insulting ones like the V sign and the middle finger. However, there is also a stronger, more aggressive gesture, basically meaning Shut up. All members in good standing are free to post here. Learning a new language can be hard work, so here are 70 practical tips for improving your English that you can do outside of school or college. A great origin story but just a bit too convenient. The thumb may be tucked against the palm or - in a variation on the gesture - extended. . In a survey of gestures in Europe in the 1970s, Desmond Morris and his team found that this gesture was almost exclusively found in the British Isles. You may see this gesture with kids and shy teenagers but rarely in the business world. In this gesture, the thumb sometimes touches the middle finger. Right and Left below always mean for the person doing the gesture (not for the person viewing it). Various troops are pictured returning the favor at 1:59-2:06! Pinch together the thumb and index finger of your right hand and place it at the left edge of your closed mouth. The only time most British people have bowed is probably at the end of the school performance such as acting in a play or playing in a concert. However, it can be both interesting and useful to know about the more aggressive sides of body language. Make a circle gesture for the other person to see from your thumb and index finger of your right hand, with all the other three fingers pointing up but slightly curved and not touching each other. Move the thumbs up and down, so that it looks like two ducks quacking. In Nature Embodied: Gesture in Ancient Rome, Anthony Corbeill, Professor of Classics at the University of Kansas wrote: The most familiar example of the coexistence of a human and transhuman elementis the extended middle finger. However, particularly with children it could also be because crossing your fingers is supposed to take away the sin from lying. It has the connotation of an American middle finger.. but not as harsh. Thepostalleges that the Frenchhad planned to cut offthe middle fingers ofall captured English soldiers,to inhibit them fromdrawingtheir longbowsin futurebattles. "I expressed my displeasure to him, let's put it this way," Deepak Obhrai told a Canadian newspaper. five times for YOU MUST NOT DO IT!. It is often a sign of satisfaction, almost like patting yourself on the back. Mime shooting yourself in the head with your index finger and middle finger as the barrel of the gun and your thumb as the hammer. (There is some confusion, at least in my mind, about the dates of events depicted in the Pathe videos. Tuck your elbow into the side of your body and put both hands out in front of you and slightly to the side, with your open palms up. This gesture should only be used very jokingly or with caution, because it basically means that person was too stupid to understand or notice. Teachers can understandably be reluctant to get their students thinking about and making (very) rude gestures during lessons, and we hardly want them to start experimenting with offensive hand movements etc outside the class. Pointing to the sky with just your right index finger and curling it towards yourself three or four times also means come here but it usually has the more specific meaning of You are in big trouble. two fingers meaning: 1. in Britain, a sign that is considered rude, made by holding your hand up with your palm facing. Like those phrases, the gesture is most often used by teenagers about adults, especially their parents. You can also show the kickback of the gun by taking it a little away from your temple during the shooting noise. Although not someone who would ever use a two-fingered gesture, I do deplore that it seems to be dying out in favour of the far less satisfying middle fingerno doubt from constant exposure to US TV and films. In Greece, however, the gesture is known as a moutza, and is one of their most traditional manual insults. So, what are the origins of this gesture? Move the hands slowly up and down about five or ten centimetres. The middle finger gesture does not derive from the mutilation of English archers at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Obviously by then bowmen were obsolete. To make the gesture, start with just your index finger up and your hand sideways. In common with many countries, raising your eyebrows can be used as an informal way of greeting someone in the UK, for example when they enter a meeting late when you are halfway through saying something. The telling people what to do gesture should be used with even more care, as it is generally used with strong language like You should have and Ive told you a million times that you have to that is most common with kids. Make sure that you have your palms facing towards the other person so you are not making rude V signs. Your hand should make a cutting motion as it twists in front of your neck. Then what about the origins of, in many ways, the most curious of them all: the British and Irish (and Australian and New Zealand), twin fingers, the v sign insult lifted insultingly towards the enemy (pictured above) not to be confused with the reverse Churchillian v for victory sign. The meaning is the same as the ironic use of quotation marks in English writing, in phrases like As everyone knows, hes a genius, meaning hes not a genius at all and/ or only he thinks he is a genius. Second, Desmond Morris did some work on this. Suicide might be a better choice!). Victorian and Edwardian Bedfordshire Ghost Stories, The Wizards, Astrologers, Fairy Seers and Witches of Victorian Liverpool, Hurst, The Victorian Ghosts, Devils and Witches of Northern Bedfordshire, http://www.strangehistory.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Four-Lads-Istanbul.mp3, The Voodoo Soldiers of Arthurs Seat, Edinburgh, Zombies and Shapechangers in Medieval Yorkshire, Pitchforks and Witchcraft in Nineteenth-Century Warwickshire, The Fairy Witch of Carrick-on-Suir: A Nineteenth-Century Fairy Resurrectionist, Boggart & Banshee: A Supernatural Podcast, John Higson, South Manchester Supernatural, Le Fanu, Sheridan Le Fanus Scary Fairy Stories, Riddell et al, Ghost Tales of Victorian and Edwardian Bedfordshire, The Fewston Witches 1621-1623: A Yorkshire Coven, The Witches and Fairies of Nineteenth-Century Ilkley, Young (ed), The Wollaton Gnomes: a Nottingham Fairy Mystery, Young, A Gazetteer of British Mermaid Place-names, 2023 Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog. If you click your fingers without moving your hand sideways, this usually means that something is quick and/ or easy, as in No problem. You can also bring down the hammer, show the gun shooting back and/ or make a pow noise to make the meaning of the action clearer. It may be difficult to pinpoint exactly when the middle finger gesture originated, but some historians trace its roots to ancient Rome. Another article called British body language on the more general topics of UK-style handshakes, physical displays of affection, bodily contact, proximity etc will also be available from September 2016. If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know: Summary: List of UK gestures, with meanings of gestures used in the United Kingdom and how to make them. Hold your open hand in front of you with your palm up and then bend your elbow until the hand finishes up on your forehead, preferably with an audible slapping sound. This means something like Seriously?, Enough already!, I cant believe you have done that (again) and/ or Youre so embarrassing. Also see the calm down gesture below for a more polite way to ask people to keep the volume down. 19 May 2011: Maxim Gun (!) Gesturing come here with both hands towards one person (with fingers up and your palms facing yourself) can literally mean Come over here for a fight (if you think you are hard enough). Massage your head as if you are thinking deeply, are troubled or have a headache. Learning a new language can be hard work, so here are 70 practical tips for improving your English that you can do outside of school or college. complete disagreement with what a politician has just said in their speech. The first is with your open left hand held flat with your palm facing up, and your right hand above it with your thumb and first two fingers touching and your little finger pointing out. This gesture is often made with the two hands held at chest or head level, the elbows . It is saying, 'this is a phallus' that you're offering to people, which is a very primeval display.". Put your hand on the right side of your head near your cheek, with the thumb in the middle of your ear and your little finger near your mouth. However, in the UK the insult wanker generally means someone who is selfish, egotistical, boastful, showing off, etc. The different British gestures for drinking could well reinforce foreign peoples stereotypes of my country! Blow above and around your tongue so that the air makes a rude noise, similar to a farting sound (=letting off wind from your bottom). A thumbs up sign is also used for hitchhiking. This means Dear Lord, why me?, for example if you are cursing your luck at supporting or managing a particular football team. The palms of the hands are held together with the fingers extended and touching or the fingers folded upon the opposite hand. The V sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a V shape while the other fingers are clenched. Tapping your head has two very different meanings with slightly different gestures, so you need to be careful when attempting either. Perhaps the thrusting motion was the key which turned a patriotic gesture into an insult worth a mans life, and perhaps Churchill was aware of that fine distinction. Some historians trace its origins to ancient Rome. Speak to the hand (because the face dont want to know) means I have no interest in what you are saying. 3 The shaka or "hang loose" gesture originated when a Hawaiian named Hamana Kalili lost his three middle fingers in a sugar mill accident. The other fingers should be folded down so the other person can just see the letter W. Whatever means I dont care about what you are saying, for example if someone has just insulted you or given an excuse for something bad that they did. 28 Posts. This looks like the opposite of the thumbs up gesture, but the meanings differ more than you might think. The Shocker is a hand gesture with a sexual connotation. For example, if you get what seems like too much applause after a presentation and are embarrassed by it (British people often being embarrassed by praise), you can bow to mean Really, guys? Just one final thoughtwasnt Mrs. Thatcher supposed to have given a two-fingered Churchill victory salute and accidentally (I hope) got it muddled and instead given the insult variation to the media? It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. This can have the No way meaning, but often has the much less aggressive meaning of Please stop. "What is risque about it? The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. This means that Im not going to tell you something. Thumbs down can mean bad, but it more usually means that Im rejecting something. For some people the joints in your fingers will make a loud cracking sound when you do this, but the meaning doesnt change if it is done silently. What it Means: Sitting on your hands is similar to shoving them deep down into your pockets. The British Navy salutes with the palm downward because sailors often had dirty palms. It can also be done with one hand speaking into your own ear, which can have the even more aggressive meaning of (Stop nagging). Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here . This is a super closed-off gesture and should be avoided. Twist your wrist clockwise and anticlockwise about three times, without changing the position of your arm. This gesture is related to the English idiom done and dusted and means something is completely finished. The story goes that English soldiers waved their fingers at French soldiers who had threatened to cut off captured archers' first two fingers to prevent them shooting arrows. An even less common way of pointing at someone is spinning your arm around several times and then pointing at them, often with a similarly long and dramatic Heeeeeeeres (name). This is a pretty strong gesture meaning Shut up. Shaking your head can be made more forceful by pausing at the end of each nod (at the extreme left and right of the movement), matching the timing of No! Surely MM is right? Many people literally do this before starting some physical work, and it generally means Right, lets get down to work. Put your right hand in front of your forehead with your palm towards you. Without moving your arm, move your hand up and down. A milder gesture for Be quiet is putting your right index finger vertically in front of your mouth under your nose, perhaps saying Shhhh. Its quite common to pat a small child on the head with your right palm three or four times to comfort them, for example while saying Never mind if they lost a game. Move the top of your finger slightly towards and then away from the person you are speaking to, perhaps in time with the words you use, e.g. "It does not appeal to the prurient interests," he says. I wish I could just die on the spot) or life generally (Three hours with just one student again. Put your hands around your neck with your hands crossed as if you are trying to strangle yourself, then put out your tongue and roll your eyes as if you are dying. There are two finger wagging gestures used in the United Kingdom side to side to stop people doing something, and back and forth to tell them what to do. This basically means Okay. The gesture's origins may extend even further back: male squirrel monkeys of South America are known to gesture with the erect penis, says Dr Morris. You are obviously never going to be able to do this/ You are obviously too stupid to understand. I would say that the middle finger is more direct and aggressive, and that the V sign is more taunting, defiant or cheeky. 70 ways to improve your English Tapping your nose gesture/ Need to know gesture, Touching wood gesture/ Knocking on wood gesture, Neck cutting/ Slitting your neck gestures, Twisting your finger in front of you gestures, Shooting yourself in the side of your head gesture, How to make a personal connection in presentations, Offensive, insulting and aggressive gestures in the UK, Using body language and gestures to teach grammar, A guide to rude, offensive, insulting and taboo gestures for EFL learners, The 250 most useful British abbreviations, How to teach British and American vocabulary, Differences between British and American emails. Make peace signs on both sides of your head with the middle fingers and index fingers of both hands in V shapes. Hold up an open right hand with fingers pointing up and your little finger towards the other person. The middle finger, which Dr Morris says probably arrived in the US with Italian immigrants, is documented in the US as early as 1886, when a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters gave it in a joint team photograph with the rival New York Giants. Offensive, insulting and aggressive gestures in the UK. 20 May 2011: Four precious emails this morning. Slap your palms against each other as you move them up and down, as if you are trying to get some chalk dust or flour off them. excellent online English training course. Then, finally, JEC brings up Churchill in what could be a post in its own right. As this combined with actual physical contact could lead to a very aggressive reaction, in this case we often just mime patting on the head, in the air or on your own head. Hold your open hand in front of you with your palm up and then bend your elbow until the hand finishes up touching your forehead, preferably with an audible slapping sound. Inthe book,Corbeillpoints to Priapus, a minor deityhedatesto 400 BC, whichlater alsoappears in Rome as the guardian of gardens,according to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Greece and Rome( here ). You therefore have to be very careful how you gesture when you ask for two stamps in the UK. This is a fairly direct gestural translation of the British insult . Many of the gestures are borrowed from other places and/ or widely used in other countries, but none of them are universal and there are a few which are very rare outside the UK. The gesture has the same meaning as the British slang insult, "wanker", or might indicate a failure or waste in other countries. It transpires that Michael Caine regaled the Johnny Carson Show with this tale. Point those palms towards your partner with your arms completely straight, stretching your arms and hands as far towards the other person as possible, as you might do while yawning. British drinking gestures. The sun is in the heaven, term is over and with the good luck that characterises him Beachcombing has come down with a cracking summer cold. Here are 6 hand gestures - and what they mean - in different countries and cultures: 1. All explanations below are for right-handed people, but there is no taboo against using the left hand in Britain, so all of them can be done with that hand instead without changing the meaning. If you start making circles slowly and get quicker and quicker, it means Please speed up, maybe in order to finish in time. By: Alex Case It can also sometimes mean I want to die (from embarrassment)/ I wish the ground would open up and swallow me (to save from any more embarrassment). Any ideas? Slapping your palms together as you move them up and down, like getting rid of some dust from them, can have the positive meaning of having successfully finished something. That was never going to work). Despite the name, this gesture doesnt have anything to do with running out of time see below for the watch-related gestures that do. Copyright 2002 - 2023 UsingEnglish.com Ltd. The two-fingered salute, or backwards victory or V-sign, made with the middle and index fingers, is said to have originated with English archers at Agincourt in 1415. Middle finger/ Giving someone the finger (offensive gesture). Move the thumb and fingers so that they rub against each other, as if you are testing the quality of some material. own real-life telephone calls. Allegedly the English, knowing the value of the longbow, would not kill any French peasants that they captured, but chop off their two bow fingers making it impossible for them to use the weapon. Nodding more quickly can mean strong agreement, or it might mean Yes, I already know that, please move on. . It can also have the related but less physical meaning of Insult me/ my idea as much as you like, I can take it. If you touch your right temple with your right index finger and tap the side of your head four or five times, this means You are crazy. While Americans 'flip the bird' with a single middle finger, the British have traditionally achieved the same with two. This gesture and sound has a range of related meanings in English, usually meaning something like Its not fair, I envy you or I dont care. In certain parts of the Middle East, thumbs-up is definitely a highly offensive thumbs-down. The most common way to show the number two is simply to turn your hand around so that your palm is facing the other person (the peace sign). The naughtiness of the topiccan also make them more interested and aware of the topic of cultural differences in body language and gestures generally. You have to be quite careful how and when you use a finger in front of your lips to mean hush, as it is a bit too direct in many situations. This suggests that whereas today the two-fingered salute is universally known in the UK, within living memory it was still strictly plebeian. While the middle finger may historically have symbolised a phallus, it has lost that distinctive meaning and is no longer even obscene, says Ira Robbins, a law professor at American University in Washington DC, who has studied the gesture's place in criminal jurisprudence.