What does the "up" symbol mean?

Gestures made from combinations of fingers in different cultures have very different meanings. So, for example, the symbol "thumbs up" can speak as a solution to pardon the defeated (the famous gesture at the time of the Roman gladiators' struggle), and about the usual request to give a lift, take a companion (hitchhiking), if it is a raised thumb At the road somewhere in America. The index finger carries other information. Let's take a closer look.

What is this symbol - a thumb up?

It is clear that the meaning of the symbol depends precisely on which country and which finger is used. And there are a lot of options: from greeting and approval to indecent analogies.

1. The index finger of the right hand, raised up, is the symbol of the Muslims proclaiming monotheism, that is, in the translation into Russian it means: "There is no God but Allah!".
2. In Germany, this gesture says: "Everything is fine."
3. In Slavic countries, the index finger raised up means a call for attention from others, and in American schools, students thus ask the teacher for permission to answer the question.
4. If at the time of the conversation you raise your index finger up and shake it from side to side, the interlocutor of almost any nationality will understand this as a rejection of the proposed or unwillingness to discuss the topic.

What are we talking about, lifting your finger up?

Symbol - the combined index and thumb with the others raised, means in America and most European countries: "Everything is fine!". But in Brazil and Turkey, such a gesture is perceived as an insult.

A resident of Holland, inviting you to a friendly drinking party, will raise his pinky up, and thumb will lead to the side. Here you probably want to answer him with the gesture described above. Still: "Everything is fine!" And the Frenchman can pick up the little finger in return, which will mean: "Leave me alone!"

If someone raised his thumb up - the symbol hardly needs a special decoding - it's a sign of a wish for luck, a recognition that everything goes as it should, an agreement with the proposed program of actions, etc.

True, in Turkey and Arab countries such gesture is a phallic symbol, and in Greece - a requirement: "Shut up!".

The most common symbol

The thumb goes up in other cases. The truth is not one, but two: we are talking about the well-known V-shaped sign in Europe with the index and middle fingers of the hand.

He was introduced during the Second World War into the usage of Winston Churchill to designate the victory, and since then this gesture has become quite popular. True, for the British, it is important in it one nuance: which side is turned at this moment the palm to the speaker. If the rear, it is: "victory", but if the palm, then its interpretation becomes offensive.

No less popular is another gesture: the "goat". It's about the raised index finger and little finger. On the territory of the CIS, this is a notorious "rocker" symbol. The thumb up like this is a sign of superiority over someone, a desire to humiliate him. Although in mystical rituals, this sign is a defense against dark forces.