[8], Popularization in the United States is generally attributed to the practices of World War II pilots, who used the thumbs up to communicate with ground crews prior to take-off. What might seem to Americans like a universally positive gesture is not, in fact, universal. All over the world, people hold up their second and third fingers to declare, "Peace!" In basketball, when a held ball occurs, an official will jerk both thumbs in the air, signalling that a jump ball is in order. While the exact source of the thumb gesture is obscure, a number of origins have been proposed. In the latter case, an item which has received exactly ten of each would read as having a rating of zero, rather than one of +10/-10. These gestures have become metaphors in English: "The audience gave the movie the thumbs-up" means that the audience approved of the movie, regardless of whether the gesture was actually made. Amusement park rides such as roller coasters are usually cleared for departure using a thumbs-up signal from the workers after inspection that all safety precautions have been taken. Thumbs-up in Thailand. The gesture's derisive, taunting connotations, proponents say, remain to this day. 3. to stick out like a sore thumb (= be conspicuous) ne pas passer inaperçu(e) According to this Taiwanese superstition, doing this won't offend an Earthbound person but instead will incur the wrath of the moon goddess. However, its perceived meaning varies significantly from culture to culture. She says that it is similarly insulting in some Middle Eastern nations. Starting in 2007, the thumbs-up also appeared on India's one-rupee coin. "[citation needed] A visual example of the British use of "thumbs up" having a positive meaning (or, "okay") from the 1920s can be seen 19 minutes into the British-made silent 1927 film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, where the younger man examines some paper money for the older man and declares it "good" (not counterfeit) with a "thumbs up" using both hands. Lonne's wife, who speaks some Italian, came to the rescue, explaining what he'd done wrong. While this may seem easy enough to avoid doing, sometimes cultural differences can make even simple hand gestures get lost in translation. "The veracity of that has been hard to nail down, given how long ago that was and the nature of war," explains No Momo, Chief Innovations Officer at NoMomo Development. Source(s): Been deployed to Iraq twice. It can mean sexy, delicious, divine, or wonderful. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Witness recalls chilling warning before blast in Nashville that injured 3, Nashville explosion appears intentional, authorities say. Here are some more surprising that are considered bad luck around the world. So to eat, pay, address someone, or pass an object to someone with the left hand is seen as incredibly disrespectful. Share the best GIFs now >>> The Indian cola brand Thums Up, now owned by The Coca-Cola Company, is named after this symbol and uses it as its logo. The thumbs-up gesture is a sign of approval in most countries. যা জানা গেল– News18 Bengali", "Hand signals are the most effective means of communication underwater. One unsubstantiated, but certainly fun, theory behind it is that it stems from a 15th-century battle. Our content consists of sketch comedy, mysteries, spooky skits, fun challenges, and adventure. Prisoners who escaped before undergoing this punishment, therefore, would flash those two fingers as they ran away. Sunshine Hell. Though this one doesn't have a common non-offensive equivalent in America, it is worth noting that a similar gesture does mean "thank you" in American sign language. Desmond Morris in Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution traces the practice back to a medieval custom used to seal business transactions. The major difference between them is that the O.K. En tant que distributeur primé et reconnu internationalement, Thumbs Up produit des gadgets, des cadeaux et des articles de … In a lot of countries, especially in the Middle East, Latin America, Western Africa, Russia and Greece, a thumbs up basically has the same meaning as holding up … thumbs up the more popular in France. In America, the middle finger is the profane one; in Iran, it's the thumb. thumbs up, thumbs-up n noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc. The last thing you want to do when traveling to a new country is to offend the locals. As a little kid, you may have been chastised that "it's rude to point!" Avenue: Thumbs up - See 869 traveler reviews, 354 candid photos, and great deals for Clermont-Ferrand, France, at Tripadvisor. Even in the United States, there are some things you shouldn't do with your left hand. "The right hand...is used for eating, passing money, or picking up items for purchase," explains Emily Mosby, intercultural agility trainer and author of Mosby Global LLC. Here's another commonly "positive" one, like the thumbs-up, that can potentially ensnare American tourists. À peu près tout le monde y a réagi favorablement. Thumbs up! 3. [clarification needed] For an example in the seventeenth century see the Diego Velázquez painting The Lunch. However, its perceived meaning varies significantly from culture to culture. Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day. figurative, informal (approval) visto bueno loc nom m locución nominal masculina: Unidad léxica estable formada de dos o más palabras que funciona como sustantivo masculino ("ojo de buey", "agua mala"). Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. It's worth including as one of the better-known international rude gestures among Americans (if only because Matt Le Blanc's Joey Tribbiani uses it on Friends). [citation needed] High officials in the Chinese government see it as a sign of respect. Add hot water to see it magically change colour. Throwing a thumbs up. ", "thumbs up | Japanese Emoticons | Jemoticons (´･ω･')", "Thumb Up / Like Sign Facebook Chat Emoticons Shortcut Keys Code Dislike button", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thumb_signal&oldid=994595792, Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from December 2009, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from May 2011, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019, Articles needing additional references from January 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 16 December 2020, at 15:14. [1] Critics[who?] Likewise, the feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body, so "pointing with the toe of your foot is insulting in Thailand," she adds, saying that this rule applies in some other southeastern Asian countries as well. Thumbs Up. Instead, if they must point to something, they use two fingers. Translations in context of "thumbs up" in English-French from Reverso Context: Moving, eloquent, two thumbs up. Besides, a good job has been done regarding navigation and deserve a thumbs up. The Latin term for the gesture of approval, Corbeill explains, is pollices premere, which means “press your thumbs” and has been described by Pliny the Elder as a … While it represents an "O" and a "K" in the U.S.A., it "describes a malodorous body part" in the South American nation, according to travel blogger Talek Nantes. This gesture has survived many years and is now used in most western countries where thumbs up means we are stating that everything is okay. It has been suggested that 'thumbs up' was a signal from English archers preparing for battle that all is well with their bow and they are ready to fight. In baseball, umpires will sometimes jerk a thumbs-up over their shoulder as an "out" signal. More recently, these gestures are associated with film reviews, having been popularized by critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert[16] on their televised review show Siskel & Ebert; the thumb up meaning a positive opinion of a film; the thumb down meaning a negative one. Try to avoid it in Thailand, though, where it’s a sign of condemnation. For instance, in some parts of the world, motions as well-intentioned as a pointing finger or a peace sign are seen as insulting. Beyond just hand gestures, there are many other common American habits that you should be careful not to do in other countries. While in the United States, you'll find no shortage of lefty pride, southpaws will want to be careful about using their left hand as they normally would should they travel to India or the Middle East. The FFBB revealed it has a record 661,025 player licenses in 2017, up from 641,367 last year and nearly 200,000 more than 2012. In the United States, American Sign Language users use a single thumb up tilted slightly and rapidly left and right to indicate the number ten (10). In the aggregate, this serves as an evaluation system. Carleton S. Coon, having observed Barbary apes in Gibraltar using the gesture, hypothesised in the anthropological classic The Story of Man that it is a mutual celebration of having opposable thumbs. But the veracity of the gesture itself is undisputed—as Momo learned himself when he unknowingly made it during an "impromptu group photo" during a business trip to Dublin. The Oxford English Dictionary cites the earliest written instance of "thumbs-up" (with a positive meaning) as being from Over the Top, a 1917 book written by Arthur Guy Empey. Un grand bravo à Joan Didion. 10 Common Hand Gestures That Are Rude in Other Countries. You might be surprised by some of the surprisingly offensive origins of expressions we use all the time. This fistmele should be about 7 inches (18 cm), which is about the same as a fist with thumb extended. The head "is considered the most sacred part of the body," she explains. We are located at 573 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. French Translation. The French system of counting on the fingers is a bit different. Here are several hand gestures you probably make all the time that are the equivalent of "flipping the bird"—or otherwise demeaning—in other countries. Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. In France, for example, it means "zero" or "worthless." Don't do this in Greece Jose (Image: Getty) In Iran, Greece, Russia, Sardinia, and parts of West Africa the thumbs up is as rude as the … Un, deux, trois. D'ailleurs, un bon travail a été fait en matière de navigation et mérite le pouce levé. très bien phrase. thumbs up) and have the same widely scattered range. Do you know which are the most common? Often, users may view a list of items in order of popularity, as ranked by this metric. As a matter of fact, because it can be offensive in some cultures, employees at Disney parks are actually trained to avoid pointing with their index fingers. Torben Lonne, a diving instructor for Dive.In who travels internationally quite a bit, learned this firsthand on a trip to Sardinia. He wrote: "Thumbs up, Tommy’s expression which means ‘everything is fine with me'. This occasionally causes confusion in new divers, who might automatically gesture thumbs-up when trying to indicate approval—actually indicating a desire to stop diving and to ascend. Starting in 2007, the thumbs-up also appeared on India's one-rupee coin.[12]. (You touch your lips with your fingertips before bringing your hand down, rather than flicking your chin.) This is less a single gesture than a motion: flicking your hand outward, palm up, brushing your chin with your fingertips as you do it. During a presentation, the way you move your hands can also convey more about the message than you might even realize. For other uses, see, "The audience gave the movie the thumbs-up" means that the audience approved of the movie, Carlton S. Coon: "The Story of Man" (1954), Learn how and when to remove this template message. The business plan was given the thumbs up by the company manager. Thumbs Up. If your palm is facing away from you, it's harmless—in fact, Winston Churchill used it as a "V for victory" gesture quite a bit during World War II. They are also of about equal popularity (700 for the O.K. Thumbs Up France. The appreciative Chinese would say ting hao de (挺好的) meaning "very good", and gesture with a thumbs up, which in Chinese means "you're number one". Unicode code points related to thumb signals include: Many keyboard emoticons utilize the shapes of lowercase "b" and "d" to represent a thumbs-up sign. One stop shopping for all your digital camera needs. We are located at 573 Edgewood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30312. The thumbs-up sign consists of a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward. We look forward to seeing you soon! Empey was an American who served in the British armed forces during World War I. The Latin phrase pollice verso is used in the context of gladiatorial combat for a hand gesture used by Ancient Roman crowds to pass judgment on a defeated gladiator. Regardless of what cultural norms have been in the past, the meaning of the thumbs-up sign is getting strongly influenced by the Internet. ring and 738 for the O.K. Because of this, "the left hand is unclean and not used for other activities," Mosby says. Welcome to Thumbs Up Diner! to get the thumbs up from sb [person] (= get permission) recevoir le feu vert de qn; [proposal, idea] (= be welcomed) obtenir une réaction favorable de qn It more or less gets the thumbs up from everyone. [13] When held stationary and thrust toward another person the meaning is "yourself". "Immediately the guy starting gesticulating and yelling at me as if I offended one of his relatives.". These gestures, generally positive and "cool" in the United States, can get you in trouble in some western European nations. In Germany, France, and Hungary, the gesture can simply indicate the number one, in the right context. The FFBB revealed it has a record 661,025 player licenses in 2017, up from 641,367 last year and nearly 200,000 more than 2012. The most common interpretation of this sign is as a sing of approval (there is even a metaphor in English: The proposal was given a thumbs-up), but there are some countries where it … In the United States, patting someone's head (especially that of a baby or little kid) can be a sweet, loving gesture, and ruffling someone's hair is a playful one (that perhaps could offend a particularly vain person). thumbs up A sign or indication of approval. This gesture is used commonly in Italy, France, Spain, Greece, and Germany as a form of praise. By extension from the film review usage,[17] many websites (including Facebook) allow users to approve or disapprove of items, such as comments in a forum, products in a store, or even other people's reviews of movies, books, products, etc., by choosing to click either a thumbs-up or thumbs-down button. My video got over 1,000 thumbs-ups. This gesture of agreement or approval is an easy reflex when language barriers are at play. "Using 'hang loose,' or any form of hand gesture that resembles horns, symbolizes...a husband whose wife is cheating on him and it’s public knowledge," Lonne explains. However, this gesture does not mean the same thing everywhere. "Unfortunately, in Iran and neighboring countries like Afghanistan, the thumbs-up is equivalent to the middle finger!" French Translation of “thumb” | The official Collins English-French Dictionary online. But in Thailand, it can be a serious offense, Nantes says. What might seem to Americans like a universally positive gesture is not, in fact, universal. In Germany and Hungary, the upright thumb is used to represent the number 1; however, it represents the number 5 in Japan. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a major global financial organization, has given a big thumbs up to the new French president’s economic reform plans. This is similar to the "thumb towards the door" gesture, for "get out of here! On modern US carriers, certain deck crew hold a thumb up to signal to the pilot and control tower that their station is OK for take-off. Similarly, "waving your hand's palm upwards to someone," also to beckon, is disrespectful in South Korea for the same reason, Nantes says. Thumbs Up est synonyme d'innovation, de divertissement, de qualité et de valeur sur le marché des cadeaux depuis sa fondation en 2004. ring is the more popular in Italy, and the O.K. The term fistmele is a Saxon word that refers to that measurement.[7]. [14] When lifted up by the other palm, the meaning is "help". The thumbs up gesture is used on the logo of Thums Up, a popular brand of cola from India. How to say thumbs up in French. Other users may then see the total number of thumbs up and thumbs down given to an item, or may simply see the number which is produced by subtracting thumbs down from thumbs up. We look forward to seeing you soon! Well, because there, the right and the left hands have specifically designated tasks. The Thumbs Up Family creates content for a mixed audience. Backward, though, it's a big ol' insult. Our phone number is 404-223-0690. A thumb signal, usually described as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively. especially if you dared pair the gesture with laughter. The French start with … Don't do this in Greece Jose (Image: Getty) In Iran, Greece, Russia, Sardinia, and parts of West Africa the thumbs up is as rude as the … American GIs are reputed to have picked up on the thumb gesture and spread it throughout Europe as they marched toward Berlin. Needless to say, if you flash this at someone (particularly with your palm facing toward you), you're not conveying that you think they're "A-OK." Do you know about these words that used to be insulting but are now compliments? In Italy—northern Italy in particular—it's an aggressively dismissive gesture, meaning (in the most polite terms) that you just don't care. See Like button. [5] According to Luís da Câmara Cascudo, Brazilians adopted the thumbs up from watching American pilots based in northern Brazil during World War II. [15] The handshape is employed in the production of numerous signs in American Sign Language beyond those mentioned here. The thumbs-up gesture is a sign of approval in most countries. In Venezuela, Turkey, and Brazil, it's a vulgar slang that will offend pretty much anyone you flash it at. "There were some surfer-looking types hanging out on the beach, and as I walked past I gave them the 'hang loose' gesture and a smile," he told Reader's Digest. explains Dana Hooshmand, an author for Discover Discomfort, a language- and culture learning resource. I assumed Paul was OK with our plan. Thumbs down! With Tenor, maker of GIF Keyboard, add popular Thumbs Up animated GIFs to your conversations. Before use, the fistmele (or the "brace height") was checked, that being the distance between the string and the bow on an English longbow. Now they give shows of their own. surprisingly offensive origins of expressions we use all the time, things you shouldn't do with your left hand, surprising that are considered bad luck around the world, common American habits that you should be careful not to do in other countries. "[The] flash went off, and just then a hand grabbed mine and gently but firmly twisted my hand around, so [the] palm was out," he remembers sheepishly. (More literally, the "horns" are supposed to represent a castrated bull.) At Disney, that is—actually in Malaysia, the common alternative is to point with your thumb (particularly your right thumb). Over time, the mere sight of an upraised thumb came to symbolize harmony and kind feelings. One stop shopping for all your digital camera needs. While in America, the single-finger beckon is at worst playfully naughty and at best totally innocent, you should definitely avoid it in the Philippines. The thumbs up gesture is used on the logo of Thums Up, a popular brand of cola from India. But, while it can be inconsiderate in the United States in certain circumstances, an index-finger point is always rude in Malaysia. This custom may have originated with the China-based Flying Tigers, who were among the first American flyers involved in World War II. It’s typically a child’s gesture, the Thai equivalent of sticking out your tongue. In Germany, France, and Hungary, the gesture can simply indicate the number one, in the right context. PARIS - Basketball in France continues to grow and have more and more players. Dash for the wrist: -b ( right hand ) and have the same widely scattered range sometimes differences... That even a chill surfer got riled up over it is similarly insulting in some such! ) and have the same thing everywhere a child ’ s expression which means everything! The surprisingly offensive origins of expressions we use all the time coin. [ 12 ] gesture! 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