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Appendix:Gestures

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The gestures below are meaningful expressions produced with parts of the body, but excluding speech. All are used outside of the context of a sign language. Some have specific referents, some emphasize accompanying vocal speech, and some express feelings, including contempt, hostility, approval, and affection.

List of gestures

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A tense argument. These gestures are described here as "pointing up" and "calm down".
ILY sign

One person

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One hand

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Two hands

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  • air quotes
  • awkward turtle
  • applause
  • bicep rubbing (flexing one's arm and rubbing the biceps)
  • both hands over face (1. childish, someone counting while playing hide-and-seek; 2. covers the eyes and face, may indicate profound discomfort with what one would see, or some trauma/sadness, hiding one's urge to cry, etc.)
  • breasts (using the two hands, in a gesture imitating a person holding one's own breasts)
  • carry me
  • change the subject (get an invisible box from the sides with your open palms and put the box away to the side, indicating a change of subject)
  • chest pound
  • crossed arms (forming an X with both arms over the chest or elsewhere)
  • dusting off the hands (sometimes expressing completion: "that's that")
  • The crossed hands (gesture) (duart e kryqëzuara), representing the double-headed eagle that denotes Albania
  • fake ears/horns with the two hands:
    • bunny ear (hands open above head, imitating bunny ears)
    • index finger horns (both hands closed, at the sides of the head, except the index fingers, which are pointing upwards imitating horns)
  • finger frame (making a rectangular frame with the thumb and index finger of both hands)
  • finger tenting
  • five fathers (insulting a person by suggesting that their mother was sexually promiscuous)
  • fist to the palm (hit the palm of one hand with the closed fist of the other)
  • folded arms (folding both arms over one's chest)
  • gorilla pound (see chest pound)
  • hand blocker (block the way using your two hands, indicates that you don't want something)
  • hand rubbing
  • hands up
  • head clutch (hands to ears, indicating loud noise)
  • heart hands (two hands forming a heart)
  • namaste (namaste gesture common in India)
  • palms-together apology (Japanese "gomen!" with the two palms together)
  • penetration (index finger penetrating an OK-sign)
  • psychic instance (fingers to the temples, imitating psychic powers; also used to indicate that one is thinking hard)
  • religion:
  • Tarzan pound (see chest pound)
  • this big (index fingers raised a distance apart, to show the size of something; e.g. a fish one caught)
  • tips of index fingers touching each other (indicates shyness)
  • typing (wiggle your fingers in a typing motion, indicates typing on a keyboard)
  • victory clasp (raising the hands clasped in victory)
  • vulva sign (making a diamond shape between extended thumbs and fingers to symbolise a vulva)
  • what have I done (looking at one's own palms in realization of something done)
  • white power (shaping one hand like the letter W and the other like P)
  • wristwatch (point at your arm as if you had a wristwatch, indicates asking "what time is it?")
  • writing (wiggle your hand as if you were writing with a pen on the palm of your other hand; this indicates that you are going to need a writing instrument)
  • zombie pose (both hands reaching forward, imitating a zombie or unrealistic stereotypical sleepwalker)

Moving the head

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Parts of the head

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Whole body, or legs/torso

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Other parts of the body

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Using objects

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Two people interacting

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Only the hands or arms

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Other gestures

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Three people interacting

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Four people interacting

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Games

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Card games

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Chess

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Mudras

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(to be filled)

See also

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