![]() But in Japan, stretching out those two fingers is an insult. Meanwhile in China, you could fill an entire table, because the gesture symbolizes the number eight. But as shown in Quentin Tarantino's movie "Inglourious Basterds," people in the UK start counting with the index finger as the first digit and end with the thumb to represent five, so you'd probably get a single beer with that same gesture. In Germany, if you want two beers, you'll show that to the bartender by simply stretching out your thumb and index finger. On the other hand, in southern Europe, in Brazil or in Russia, it is considered an insult. The Japanese simply interpret the sign as a symbol for money. In Arab countries, this gesture is actually threatening, because it signals to the other person: "Watch out, otherwise I'll hit you!" Yet a Belgian or Tunisian chef would rather be insulted with this gesture, since it stands for "zero," or something that is absolutely worthless. One of the first signs learned by divers, which means 'everything is OK' Image: Reinhard Dirscherl/imageBROKER/picture alliance The hand signal has a positive connotation in many countries, such as in Germany, where you could use this gesture to praise a tasty meal in a restaurant. For scuba divers, this is known as the "OK" sign. In Turkey, it is even used to invite someone to engage in sexual practices.Ī similarly misleading gesture is to form a circle with the index and the thumb. ![]() It is known as a sign of approval in Germany and many Western countries, but in Australia, parts of Africa and Asia, the raised thumb represents the phallus and is therefore a vulgar insult. The thumbs up gesture can be particularly explosive. In any case, it is always a good idea to find out the meaning of a gesture before using it in another country and culture. Economy Minister Robert Habeck striking an energy deal with his counterpart in Qatar Image: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/picture alliance They also noted Germany's double standards: While the national team criticized Qatar for its human rights record, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck was striking a new energy deal with Qatar. Qatari TV pundits were therefore happy to mock the German team, especially following their elimination from the tournament. The mouth-covering gesture came in reaction to FIFA forbidding the team's captain from wearing the One Love armband, which was used in Qatar to take a stand for human rights and protest against discrimination against LGBTQ people.īut putting a hand in front of your mouth is interpreted differently in host country Qatar and neighboring Arab states, where the gesture rather stands for taking back what has been said, or to express the idea that certain words shouldn't be pronounced at all in the first place. In Germany and presumably most of the Western world, the signal the players of Germany's national football team wanted to send when they placed their hands over their mouths for a World Cup team photo was clear: "FIFA is muzzling us," as Germany coach Hansi Flick then said. ![]()
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