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Table 3-3. Nonverbal Cue Meaning Setting the Stage for Learning 101

This excerpt from my Glencoe/McGraw-Hill text (2002, pp. 346–347), Customer Service Skills
and Concepts for Success, provides a few examples of nonverbal gestures or symbols commonly
used in the United States, along with their potential meanings in other parts of the world. The
following are symbols and gestures commonly used in the United States that have alternate
meanings in other parts of the world:
Cue/Gesture/Symbol Meaning Country

Beckoning by curling and uncurling Used for calling animals or Hong Kong, Australia,
index finger a,b ladies of the evening Indonesia, Yugoslavia,
Malaysia
“V” for Victory sign (palm facing you) a,b Up yours! England
Sole of foot (pointed toward a You are lowly (as sole is Thailand, Saudi Arabia,
person) a,c lowest part of the body and Singapore, Egypt
contacts the dirt)

“Halt” gesture with palm and extended Go to hell Greece
fingers thrust toward someone a–c
Thumb up (fingers curled) indicating The number five Japan
okay, good going, or everything is Rude gesture Nigeria
fine a,c Up yours! Australia

Thumb and forefinger forming an “O” Zero or worthless France
meaning okay a,c Money Japan
Rude gesture (symbolizes Brazil, Malta, Greece,
female genitalia) Tunisia, Turkey, Italy,
Paraguay, Russia
Waving goodbye with fingers extended, Come here Parts of Europe,
palm down and moving the fingers up Myanmar, Colombia,
and down toward yourself a,c Peru
Using red ink for documents Symbolizes death; offensive Parts of Korea, Mexico,
and China
Passing things with left hand (especially Socially unacceptable, as this India, Pakistan
food) is the “bathroom hand”

Sources: Axtell, R.E., Gestures: The DO’s and TABOOs of Body Language Around the World, John Wiley & Sons, New
a
York, 1991.
b Wolfgang, A., Everybody’s Guide to People Watching, Intercultural Press, Yarmouth, MA, 1995.
c Morris, D., Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures, Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1994.