European Gestures
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| European gestures are different from ours. Learn them for a flawless communication experience! |
By Rick Steves
In Europe, gestures can contribute to the language barrier. Here are a few common gestures, their meanings, and where you're likely to see them:
Fingertips kiss: Gently bring the fingers and thumb of your right hand together, raise to your lips, kiss lightly, and joyfully toss your fingers and thumb into the air. This gesture is used commonly in France, Spain, Greece, and Germany as a form of praise. It can mean sexy, delicious, divine, or wonderful. Be careful — tourists look silly when they overemphasize this subtle action.
Hand purse: Straighten the fingers and thumb of one hand, bringing them all together and making an upward point about a foot in front of your face. Your hand can be held still or moved a little up and down at the wrist. This is a common and very Italian gesture for a query. It is used to say "What do you want?" or "What are you doing?" or "What is it?" or "What's new?" It can also be used as an insult to say "You fool." The hand purse can also mean "fear" (France), "a lot" (Spain), and "good" (Greece and Turkey).
Cheek screw: Make a fist, stick out your index finger, and (without piercing the skin) screw it into your cheek. The cheek screw is used widely and almost exclusively in Italy to mean good, lovely, beautiful. Many Italians also use it to mean clever. But be careful: In southern Spain, the cheek screw is used to call a man effeminate.
Eyelid pull: Place your extended forefinger below the center of your eye and pull the skin downward. In France and Greece this means "I am alert. I'm looking. You can't fool me." In Italy and Spain, it's a friendlier warning, meaning "Be alert, that guy is clever."
Forearm jerk: Clench your right fist and jerk your forearm up as you slap your right bicep with your left palm. This is a rude phallic gesture that men throughout southern Europe often use the way many Americans "give someone the finger." This jumbo version of "flipping the bird" says "I'm superior" (it's an action some monkeys actually do with their penises to insult their peers). This "get lost" or "up yours" gesture is occasionally used by rude men in Britain and Germany as more of an "I want you" gesture about (but never to) a sexy woman.
Chin flick: Tilt your head back slightly and flick the back of your fingers forward in an arc from under your chin. In Italy and France, this means "I'm not interested, you bore me," or "You bother me." In southern Italy it can mean "No."
"Thumbs up," "V for Victory," and more: The "thumbs up" sign popular in the United States is used widely in France and Germany to say "OK." (Note that it also represents the number one when counting throughout Europe.) The "V for victory" sign is used in most of Europe as in the United States. (Beware — the V with your palm toward you is the rudest of gestures in Britain.) "Expensive" is often shown by shaking your hand and sucking in like you just burned yourself. In Greece and Turkey, you signal "no" by jerking your eyebrows and head upward. In Bulgaria and Albania, "OK" is indicated by happily bouncing your head back and forth as if you were a bobblehead doll and someone slapped you.
To beckon someone, remember that in northern Europe you bring your palm up, and in the south you wave it down. While most people greet each other by waving with their palm out, you'll find many Italians wave "at themselves" as infants do, with their palm towards their face. Ciao-ciao.
Updated for 2009. For lots more tips, check out our best-selling Europe Through the Back Door travel skills guidebook.