Talk to the hand
Culture-specific semiotics is an area that interests me, not only because of the fact that ’semiotic’ sounds like a word invented purely for retro-futurism, but also because they give you the power to communicate colourfully where words might not be appropriate, and occasionally, the equivalent gesture in your native culture means something embarrassingly different.
Lets take a look at some Japanese hand gestures:
Gesture 1: This is the signal for money. The Japanese equivalent of a Waynes World ‘chi-ching’, or the rubbing together of thumb and index finger / middle finger. No big deal here, and so we move on.
Gesture 2: Slightly less obvious, this means ’sex’, as in the sweaty, carnal act of physical love. I’m not entirely sure what this is trying to convey. Call me old-fashioned, but the western “index finger thrusting into orifice made by other thumb and forefinger” is both much more obvious, and a helpful instructional aid, should you ever forget what to do.
Gesture 3: The universal ‘bad’ symbol, usually accompanied with the almighty “dame” (dah-meh). Jon-san, you throw babies out of window again. Dame. Jon-san, you wet floor with golden penis water again. Dame. And so on in that fashion. The unfortunate western connotation of this gesture is one of “keep away from me, you are possessed by satan”, and hence may surprise a fresh-faced gaijin, or those people who are actually possessed by satan, but thought that no one knew.
Gesture 4: Lets just reeeeally look at this one for a moment. What could it possibly mean. This is the universal gesture for ‘girlfriend’. How they derived ‘girlfriend’ from what CLEARLY is the perfect symbol for ‘tiny cock’, I have no idea. This is the one that caused me the most confusion, after having this gesture held up to my face several times in my first few months and asked “do you have?” with a massive grin.
checkpoints wretch.undressed olive,Sanders?Jews,blacks Andrei ridding