The Italian Art of the Gesture
The Italian Art of the Gesture
Do you know what most amuses me about foreigners in Italy? How they try to communicate with the locals by imitating Italian hand gestures – effectively the second official language of Italy. While I salute the spirit of communication, I often see gestures being used out of context, or with completely the wrong meaning. Even more amusing is the total incomprehension among Italians when their gesturing is misunderstood by foreigners. More than once I have seen my parents trying to “talk” with my girlfriend’s parents (who are from New Zealand and whose Italian doesn’t extend beyond “buongiorno” and “grazie”) and being incredulous that these seemingly intelligent adults can not even understand the most basic gestures – one of the first things Italian children learn
We learn to gesture long before we are able to speak and by the time an Italian toddler can say “mamma” he or she has already learned an entire “alphabet” of signs to communicate feelings and needs. Perhaps this is why Italian children are more involved in the family, because dialogue is possible much earlier, and they are not frustrated by not being able to speak.
The system works so well that we continue using our hands to communicate throughout our lives. Every culture has its own accepted non-verbal communication but Italian gesturing, aside from being a defining characteristic of the Italian stereotype, allows us to communicate without relying on spoken word. I would go so far to say that we can not express ourselves without using our hands to convey feelings, needs, comments, and to offend people.
If you want to get beaten up in Italy just show your fist, with index and pinky fingers extended, to any man. This is called “giving someone the horn” and it means that he is a cuckhold – that his partner has been unfaithful to him.
It is useful for insulting drivers that invade your lane on the motorway or steal your car park, but, again use with care, as the Italian High Court recently ruled that a “personal threat” of this nature, even if the real victim is pride, is punishable by a fine of 50 euros.felix