American

Gestures

Alex Raffi

and

Richard L. Epstein

Advanced Reasoning Forum

COPYRIGHT © 2021 by Alex Raffi and Richard L. Epstein

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the

copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any

means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,

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authors.

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted.

Names, characters, and incidents relating to any of the characters in this

text are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living

or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Honi soit qui mal y pense.

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TABLE of CONTENTS

Common Gestures...............1

Yes, No, and Pointing............107

Impolite Actions..............111

Obscene Gestures..............119

Index...................123

Introduction

These are the most commonly used American

gestures, ones understood throughout the United

States. We’ve included only gestures whose meaning

is symbolic, not ones that are universal expressions of

emotion, such as fear.

Phrases in quotation marks are said with the gesture

or are the exact verbal equivalents of the gesture.