Language, our ability to express our thoughts and feelings to each other through spoken sounds and written words, is what makes us unique in this world. This has helped in creation of literary masterpieces and yet has been misunderstood time and time again The often seem to acquire a will of their own and travel an autonomous trajectory conveying a very different meaning than what was originally intended thus conveying a diluted or even a contrary message. This is where the hand signs come to our salvation.
Some hand gestures, like the thumbs up as a way to signify approval or crossed fingers as a symbol of hope, are so ingrained in our culture that we hardly give them a second thought. Now that texting and emojis are becoming more widespread than ever, throwing in these gestures over text is so simple, that in a way, they’re more popular than ever. Emoticons have evolved into a pictorial Esperanto vaulting over linguistic hurdles with ease and elegance of a cross cultural acrobat.
Just like language, the hand gestures have histories of their own and it turns out that they are quite fascinating.
Handshake : Up until the breakout of Covid-19 and social distancing entering our lives, a handshake was one of the most popular gestures in the world. Whether you’re greeting someone for the first time, closing a deal, or making amends after an argument, shaking hands was the go-to gesture. Cricket and football captains would shake hands before starting a match, and often after finishing one. People put so much meaning into handshakes that they can even affect the first impression you leave - firm and confident or limp and passive, etc. But how did the handshake even come to become such a common occurrence?
It turns out that the handshake goes way back to antiquity. One of the first depictions of it appears in Homer's ‘Illiad’ and ‘Odyssey’, in relation to pledges and displays of trust. The true origins of the gesture are murky, but the most popular theory is that it began as a way of conveying peaceful intentions. By extending their empty right hands, strangers could show that they were not holding any weapons, and the up-and-down motion was supposed to dislodge any knives or daggers that might be hidden up a sleeve. Historians believe that the daily use of the handshake in the modern world was popularized by 17th-century Quakers, who favoured it over tipping a hat. By the 1800s, it was a commonplace custom.
Crossed fingers: When we really hope for something to happen, we cross our fingers, or at least say the words “fingers crossed”. This gesture has been around for centuries, and it was originally an ancient pagan custom that required two people to cross their fingers. They believed their wishes would be kept safe if they kept their fingers crossed until they came true. This idea of capturing good luck also explains the practice of tying a string around a finger. Crossed fingers are associated with early Christians, too. When faced with prosecution, they would often cross their fingers to invoke the power of Christ’s crucifixion. It is also believed that persecuted Christians would cross their fingers behind their back to absolve themselves from the lies they told their tormentors, and that is why we cross our fingers behind our back when making a promise we don’t intend to keep.
Thumbs up and thumbs down: These popular gestures that are now used in the form of emojis and ‘like’ buttons have rather dark origins. The tradition comes from
referees in Ancient Rome, who used the gestures to determine whether a gladiator should live or die. Contrary to what we’d expect, thumbs up meant death and thumbs down meant life. Over time, the gesture’s implications swapped meanings, which is why we now interpret thumbs up as positive and thumbs down as negative. The first recorded positive association with the thumbs up gesture was in 1917, when Arthur Guy Empey, an American who served in the British Army in World War I, wrote in his memoir that UK soldiers used the phrase thumbs up to indicate everything was well.
High five: This gesture
of celebration required two people to reach up and slap each other’s palms.
Whether you have won a sports match or told a really good joke, you probably
received a high five at some point. Although it’s so popular, the origins of
high fives are not certain. The most popular theory claims the first high
five occurred on October 2, 1977, during a baseball game. Los Angeles Dodger
Glenn Burke thrust his hand over his head to greet another Dodgers player,
Dusty Baker, and Baker smacked it. “His hand was up in the air, and he was
arching way back,” Baker told ESPN. “So I reached up and hit his hand. It
seemed like the thing to do”.
Clapping: Clapping signifies approval or praise. We clap after we watch a performance, or when a plane lands safely, and in some cases, not clapping is even seen as rude. Even when there are no spectators in sports today because of the prevailing pandemic, the recordings of spectator applause is always there in telecasts!
Applause in itself goes all the way back to antiquity and is even mentioned in the Bible. In western culture, the particular act of clapping originated in ancient Roman theaters. The custom made its way from theater to politics, so Roman leaders began to gauge their popularity levels based on how much applause they received when they entered an arena. You can almost think of this as an ancient poll! So this ia an ancient Greek customs we still practice today.
V - sign: Holding up your index and middle finger can be seen as either a symbol of peace or an insult depending on where you live. In the UK, if your palm is facing yourself while doing the V sign, it’s equivalent to giving someone the rude middle finger in the
United States. Like most other hand gestures, it is hard to tell how exactly it came into being. Some believe it originated in the 1415 Battle of Agincourt when the French promised to cut off the index and middle finger of the English archers so that they wouldn't be able to draw a bowstring. After they lost, the English flashed their intact middle fingers at the vanquished French as a gesture of disdain. This story, however, is questioned by many historians. What we do know is that it held several important meanings in modern history: It was prevalent in World War II, when many people including Winston Churchill, used it to signify victory. This very use is what influenced American and British youth of the 1960s to ‘annex’ the V-sign to signify peace. In French, V stands for victoire or “victory,” and in Dutch, it stands for vrijheid, or freedom.
Extended middle finger: The middle finger has been popping up whenever someone needed an easy way to express displeasure with his fellow man. How did it start? Flipping “the bird” actually goes back to ancient Rome, where it was called digitus impudicus, or the indecent finger. Romans thought an extended middle finger resembled a man’s reproductive organ, which supposedly warded off the evil eye. Hence, whenever Romans were met with a malicious stare, they believed they could protect themselves from being cursed by flashing their magical hand organ. Remember, these people conquered the world.
Fist jab: The so-called “terrorist fist-jab” doesn’t come from Hezbollah. Rather, it comes from pro boxers in the 1970s, after people began imitating how they touched gloves before a match. Later, the gesture became popular among basketball players, who would bump fists with their teammates instead of shaking hands, to preserve the chalk on their palms. The gesture soon spread to all basketball lovers, and, before long, to the President of the United States.
Salute: The salute gesture, a movement of raising your right hand to the brim of your forehead with your plan facing front or down, is mostly used in the military as a gesture of respect. But it also has a more practical meaning, to show you aren’t carrying any
weapons. Saluting comes from the basic etiquette of removing your hat to show respect. British military conduct from the 18th century dictated that personnel remove their caps in the presence of superior officers. But as time marched on, military headgear became more cumbersome, particularly for Britain’s Coldstream Guards and their famous bear-fur hats. So the practice was shortened to simply tipping the hat without removing it. From there, it was simplified even further to the salute we know today.
Some believe the hand salute is the evolution of a gesture dating back a few thousand years when assassins were more prevalent in military and government circles. Another theory dates back to medieval times when knights lifted their visors to show their identities to their superiors. According to the Armed Forces History Museum, today’s standard salute was in place by 1820.
Now that you know what the history of the evolution of these popular hand signs you will have a fairly good idea why they are able to convey emotions across linguistic and cultural barriers.
