{"id":189,"date":"2012-01-22T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2012-01-22T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=189"},"modified":"2012-01-06T00:03:26","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T05:03:26","slug":"some-common-american-hand-gestures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/some-common-american-hand-gestures\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Common American Hand Gestures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today I\u2019m going to share with you some hand gestures that are often used by English speakers.\u00a0 I am sure if you think about it you will remember times you have seen Americans use these hand gestures either in movies, TV shows, or in person.\u00a0 These are all pretty commonly used.\u00a0 First though, I thought we should define what a gesture is:<\/p>\n<p>Gesture &#8211;<br \/>\n1. A motion of the limbs or body made to express or help express thoughts or to emphasize speech.<br \/>\n2. The act of moving the limbs or body as an expression of thought or emphasis.<\/p>\n<p>The hand gestures below are used to replace a word or phrase or accompany a word or phrase while speaking.\u00a0 I asked my family for some help in recording these gestures and I&#8217;ve included pictures of them demonstrating what each hand gesture looks like.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Air quotes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/quotes.jpg\" aria-label=\"Quotes 300x225\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-194\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/quotes-300x225.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Air quotes are made by raising both hands to about eye level and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands while speaking.\u00a0 This means you are quoting someone or something while you are speaking.\u00a0 Often people say &#8220;quote&#8230;.unquote&#8221; or &#8220;quote&#8230;end quote&#8221; when they make this gesture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hand rubbing<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/hand-rub.jpg\" aria-label=\"Hand Rub 300x236\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-195\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"236\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/hand-rub-300x236.jpg\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hand rubbing or rubbing both hands together in front of the body, indicates either that you feel cold or you are expecting or anticipating something.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thumbs-up or Thumbs-down<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/thumbs.jpg\" aria-label=\"Thumbs 300x224\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-193\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/thumbs-300x224.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thumbs-up or thumps-down are common gestures of approval (thumbs-up) or disapproval (thumbs down).\u00a0 These gestures are made by extending the thumb upward or downward with the rest of the hand in a fist.<\/p>\n<p><strong>High five<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/high-five.jpg\" aria-label=\"High Five 300x225\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-196\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/high-five-300x225.jpg\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>High five is a celebratory gesture in which two people simultaneously raise one hand and then slap these hands together in the air.\u00a0 This is a gesture often used in celebration, for example after winning a game.\u00a0 Sometimes people say, &#8220;Give me five.&#8221; when they want to high five with you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Crossed Fingers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/crossed.jpg\" aria-label=\"Crossed 300x224\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-197\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/crossed-300x224.jpg\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Crossed fingers are used to express you are wishing or hoping for something.\u00a0 They are also used to wish someone good luck.\u00a0 You might say &#8220;good luck&#8221; to someone and show him or her your crossed fingers at the same time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A-ok or Okay<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/okay.jpg\" aria-label=\"Okay 300x224\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-198\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/okay-300x224.jpg\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A-ok is made by connecting the thumb and forefinger in a circle and holding the other fingers straight.\u00a0 This is a sign for the word &#8220;okay.&#8221;\u00a0 This means everything is fine or &#8216;no problem.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><strong>V-sign<\/strong> or <strong>Peace sign<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace.jpg\" aria-label=\"Peace 300x224\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-199\"  alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"224\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace-300x224.jpg\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The V-sign is made by raising the index and middle fingers and separating them to form a V with the palm facing outward. This sign began to be used during World War II to indicate &#8220;V for Victory&#8221;. In the 1960s, the hippie-movement in the United States began to use the V-sign to mean &#8220;peace&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"262\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace-350x262.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image tmp-hide-img\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace-350x262.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2012\/01\/peace-1024x767.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Today I\u2019m going to share with you some hand gestures that are often used by English speakers.\u00a0 I am sure if you think about it you will remember times you have seen Americans use these hand gestures either in movies, TV shows, or in person.\u00a0 These are all pretty commonly used.\u00a0 First though, I thought&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/some-common-american-hand-gestures\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,135139],"tags":[144466,144195,35696,143763,143973,144762,145424,145713,144078,145232,144966],"class_list":["post-189","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-english-language","tag-air-quotes","tag-fingers-crossed","tag-gesture","tag-gestures","tag-hand-gesture","tag-hand-rubbing","tag-high-five","tag-oaky","tag-peace-sign","tag-thumbs-down","tag-thumbs-up"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions\/213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}