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Hands and gestures

Do you know these hand gestures?

 

wave	point	flag down	salute
thumb one's nose	stroke	sign	twiddle one's thumbs:
clap	punch	slap	spank

stop!	to snap	to flick	to drum	to rub one's hands / one's eyes

no!	thumbs up (approval)	thumbs down (disapproval)	shhh!

Some hand gestures that are innocent gestures in your country may be rude or even obscene in other cultures.

 

Examples

The thumbs-up sign (hand gesture of approval) is offensive in Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria  and parts of Italy and Greece.  A hitchhiker must not use it in these countries. (hitchhiker = auto-stoppeur)

In some countries (Middle and Far East) pointing is considered rude. It is best to indicate   a direction with your palm open.

The OK sign means alright in America and most of Europe.  It is the scuba diving signal for 'I am OK'. (scuba diving = plongée sous-marine)  Never do it in Greece and in some Middle Eastern countries.

Tourists should be careful about using hand gestures while travelling abroad.

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English exercise "Hands and gestures" created by lili73 with The test builder. [More lessons & exercises from lili73]
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Suzan is tired. She is yawning and rubbingstrokingdrummingI don't know her eyes.

This horse loves to be flickedsnappedstrokedI don't know on its cheek.

Joséphine has got magic powers. She rubsflickssnapsI don't know her fingers to appear and disappear.

These two little girls seem to be a little disturbed. One of them    is spankingpunchingslappingI don't know her doll, the other is crying.

Jennifer spent hours near the telephone, anxious,   twiddling her thumbsthumbing her noseI don't know .  She was waiting for her sweetheart to call.

Astérix has spankedpunchedslappedI don't know  a Roman with his closed fist.

Obélix is punchingflickingslappingI don't know another Roman with an open hand.

 

To play Carrom you need a board, 19 little wooden pawns and a larger one called the striker.  You play by slappingflickingpunchingI don't know the striker with one of your fingers

In ASL (American Sign Language) people don't   slapspankclapI don't know their hands to applaud. They raise their arms.

This child is thumbing his noseis twiddling his thumbsI don't know at his   dog which is sticking its tongue out.