Today a woman wagged her finger at me. She didn’t just hold it up, she wagged it. It’s been a long time since someone has wagged their finger at me.
Why do we make this gesture? To make someone else feel ashamed, bad, guilty or stupid.
But I felt none of those. I felt amused.
Because my deep transgression, apparently, was stopping my car and then going before she stopped and went. To be fair, it was probably her turn to go, and I probably screwed up (definitely, in her eyes). But come on, finger wagging? And she also made quite a disapproving face for further emphasis, designed I’m sure to remind me that I’m a freaking idiot AND inconsiderate.
But it just didn't really bother me.
Finger wagging is kind of a lost art. I imagine Dick and Jane getting fingers wagged at them in the 50s when they misbehaved; I didn’t even know people did that anymore! But wag they do.
Physical gestures are hilarious. Back in Romeo and Juliet’s day, it was considered really insulting to bite on the end of your thumb in front of someone. From what I can gather, it was like giving the middle finger to someone. (Why the middle finger? It would be so much easier if we used the index finger. And why is the thumb all “well done” and “great job”? That really blows for the rest of the fingers.)
In the opening scene of R&J, the rival gangs Montague and Capulet get into all sorts of mischief because one of them bites their thumb at the other. The observing dude says, “Do you bite your thumb at ME, sir?” And the thumb-biter is all, “No sir, but I do BITE MY THUMB,” just to totally mess with the guy’s head. And we all know what happened after that.
And of course hand gestures vary by culture. You really have to watch out for different customs or you could deeply piss someone off. And you might just be chewing on a hangnail at the time.
What is your favorite gesture? Which one do you use most frequently?
My husband and I made one up, to signify “whatever”. It’s an ASL W, then you flip the fingers and make a non-ASL E with the same three fingers.
Feel free to go viral with that. It’s only a trendlet now, but with your help it could make Entertainment Weekly, or one of those hipster CW shows the kids watch.
Make my pop culture dreams come true and have Robert Pattinson start using it!
And the Oscar Goes to. . . .Yawn
2 years ago
By the way, in Arab culture (I believe) the "thumbs up" is, in fact, equivalent to the middle finger. Heck, THAT's probably what started the whole anti-American enmity there in the first place! (Ingfic--a curse hand-signaled by making an ASL-W, then flipping it sideways and making a non-ASL E. Oops!)
ReplyDeleteI give the 'screw you' gesture sometimes. Its like the hand symbol of V for victory, except you're telling them what for without giving them the finger.
ReplyDeleteUnless their really dumb and rude, then its the plain ol' middle finger.