From the heart with the fingers to the microphone. A short dictionary of simple gestures that say a lot

V:

It’s the most common hand gesture on the planet, and the one with the most varied meanings. In China and Japan, people hold up their index and middle fingers when taking pictures. In Canada and among hippies, it is a sign of peace. On roads around the world, cyclists wave it to greet each other. But it is in Western Europe, where it was born, that this V has the most meaning. On January 14, 1941, on the BBC, former Belgian minister Victor de Lavellier urged the Nazi-occupied population to adopt this gesture as a sign of struggle.

For this letter is the first of victory victory, and also Verridgehead, freedom in Flemish. The V sign becomes a martial gesture associated with all struggles (Solidarnosc in Poland in the 1980s) and ends meetings of politicians of all persuasions. Be careful to turn your palm outwards and not towards you, especially in England, where the gesture then conveys the same message as our national middle finger…

Devil horns

A sign of hell in ancient Greece, a gesture to ward off harmful energies among Buddhists, or the evil eye in Italy, devil horns are a gesture of belonging to the rock community in pop culture. A symbol of devotion to the devil, like a “big bang” at a concert, this thimble duo has multiple paternities. First introduced by the band Coven in the late 1960s, it became the signature song of Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio in the 1980s.

Before he died in 2010, he admitted that he got it from his Sicilian grandmother. “It’s not a sign of the devil, but it has charms and a magical attitude,” while his bassist, Geezer Butler, claims he was given the advice because occult writer Aleister Crowley did. Also appearing in the mix is ​​another legend, John Lennon, whose illustrated figure points his fingers in the air on the cover. Yellow submarine. A mistake by the designer, who forgot to add the Beatles leader’s thumb, preferring the three-finger version, which means “I love you.”

Heart with fingers

The love symbol is a popular 2010s and IRL emoji (in real life “In Real Life”), a heart made with fingers, hands, or hands expresses love everywhere on earth. Its massive use by footballers, c-pop singers, DJs and influencers, as well as ordinary people, shows that digital culture has moved beyond reality and that images, in this case pantomime, are replacing these “I love you” so hard to pronounce. digital sociologist Catherine Legel. Its Korean version (the: Songalag Hateu:the heart formed from the tip of the crossed thumb and forefinger remains a gesture of strong social bonding in this part of Asia.

THE: Shaka

In Hawaii, “hello”, “how are you” and more broadly anything that conveys enjoyment and good humor as a sign of surfing. Its origin remains subject to many hypotheses. The most common one recalls Hamana Khalil, a sugar refinery worker who was amputated in a work accident. A Hawaiian later assigned to monitor freight trains would use this sign to indicate that the convoy was clear of freight trains.

Name: shaka would derive from the motto Shaka Bradda! coupled with the gesture of a 1960 ad aired by a car show to which we owe its popularity. It’s actually a bit too popular for the taste of some surfers who find it ridiculous to use it anywhere other than in the archipelago or without a board under their arm. No doubt they’re thinking of Volkswagen van lovers who greet each other like this when they pass each other. A tribute, they say, to surfers, heavy Combi users.

THE: microphone drop

In the 1980s in the US, rappers and stand-up artists, proud of their performance, got into the habit of extending their hand and letting go of the microphone at the end of their performance. battle It is a sign of increased confidence microphone drop One evening in April 2012 became world famous. The guest of “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” program, Barack Obama, defamed the host by casually throwing his microphone.

Hum right away, even if the gesture isn’t fully mastered. Four years later, on April 30, 2016, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Obama concluded his most media-friendly speech yet. microphone drop of history. Impersonated by Queen Elizabeth and her grandson Harry, the President of the United States is imitated in business. Leaders and managers think they look cool by leaving an invisible microphone at the end of a seminar, meeting, or even a simple PowerPoint presentation.

the scene of Titanic

Glued one behind the other in a bow TitanicJack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) look out over the ocean. Rose then steps forward, holds out her arms and screams “I’m flying, Jack, I’m flying” before the two lovers in the James Cameron film share their first kiss. Who hasn’t filmed themselves in front of a fairground boat or ferry to recreate this great movie moment?

Who will dare to say that he never recreated the cult scene? Titanic ? What is less well known is that this scene, which for some was the epitome of honeyed romance and for others the height of love poetry, was a real “nightmare” to film, according to Kate Winslet, worried about DiCaprio’s laughter, his make-up problems and lighting problems; How to break the myth?

THE: night night

On August 10, 2024, in the finals of the Paris Olympic basketball tournament, the French team faces the American ogre and can still dream of gold. But Stephen Curry made 4 three-point baskets at the end of the match and buried the hopes of the French fans. Who is angry? Because, every time, Curry celebrates his shots by tilting his head while flattening both clenched hands to his cheek. “Good night, the game is over, you can go to bed.”

Perceived by the public as a provocation intended for the occasion, i night night is actually the player’s signature gesture after the NBA Finals in 2022. “That year, I motivated the team by telling them to put the opponent to bed,” he will explain. It was only in the final that my teammate pushed me to do it.” Adopted by Brazil’s Neymar or soccer player Alex Morgan and long confined to sports fields, night night Since the beginning of the school year, French schoolyards have been in a frenzy.