We were out at a food court with friends when Dave smiled and said, "I have something you could write about on your blog."
He pointed across the food court and asked, "See that sign next to that food stall? It's the Korean sign for love."
It was a new chicken eatery and it didn't even dawn on us what that lighted sign was about.
We have that two hand sign and the American Sign Language for LOVE.
I don't know if they still do this in Japan but for the longest time I couldn't understand why the younger Japanese would put up the V sign when taking photos. That's my Japanese cousin with the V sign.
I've seen all kinds of explanations. One was to make (especially girls faces) appear slimmer. That didn't make sense at all. Another explained that it was the sign for Peace.
I thought the V was for Victory. So anyway, I still don't know.
When Art and Dave went to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the way home from Tanzania last year, their guide taught them another sign. I got this from the VoiceMap website:
"That is the three-finger salute made famous by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai. The gesture outlines three letters: a W for win, a V for victory, and an L for love."
Ummm... Art is actually doing it with the wrong hand. 😂
So if you're in another country... it would be a good idea to know what hand signs stand for. In the U.S. this gesture could look like a finger snap which could be taken the wrong way too.😬
Thanks for the interesting morning read.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. I only know of three hand signs and two of them are rude!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteTwo of them? What's the other one?
DeleteThe Catholic church takes a pause during worship part way through to allow the congregation time to offer signs of peace. This often means a kiss to loved ones right next to you, handshakes to those in neighboring pews and the two finger sign of peace for those farther away. So I throw a lot of peace signs on a weekly basis!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your last two sentences. When in Greece, holding up you hand with palm towards another person and all five fingers extended, a hello greeting or sign of thank you here in the U.S., is a vulgar phrase over in Greece. One of the first things we did was to learn appropriate signs so not to offend anyone in our host country.
I learned something today. Thanks!
ReplyDeletewhat a fun post today, i too learned something. i often make the "V" sign with my fingers, to thank someone for something curtious they did on the highway, i always mean peace!!
ReplyDeleteI like the 3 finger salute from Dubai! And the finger "snap" for love from Korea. The main female character in "Crash Landing on You" did it to their delightful confusion.
ReplyDeleteAnd here in Hawaii, we have the "shaka" sign. Shaka bruddah!
Hi, newer reader here. That cake looks DELICIOUS. I am a chocolate fan. What a lovely way to celebrate- glad everyone could get together. I appreciated your explanation of the senior bus. I will have to see what this area provides. Sorry that yelp let you down. I’ve used them for restaurant and hotel reviews, but not home repair (yet). Will you be adding your experience to the contractor’s review? I know it can be stressful to list everything out, but as another user I would appreciate it. Hope you are feeling much better, Olivia in the PNW.
ReplyDeleteKay of Musings: Hello Olivia in the PNW. Thank you for your visit and kind comment. Believe me, I was tempted to write a review on Yelp, but I just can’t get myself to revisit the experience. Sigh…
ReplyDeleteI was glad to hear that so many areas have provided some sort of transportation for handicapped people or seniors with physical or mental difficulties. I’m planning to have mom use the Handi-Van tomorrow and I will go with her to see how it works. Unfortunately, we had to take her to the ER today because she stubbed her toe and almost totally knocked her toenail off. 😵💫 I’ll need to make sure to have some kind of footwear that will protect that toe. Sigh… and so it goes.
About that chocolate cake, I really liked the Portillo’s cake, but my favorite is still Linda’s Fudge Cake from Cheesecake Factory. 😁
I've always understood the V sign to indicate Peace. When I was a biker, back in the sixties and seventies, we bikers would flash it at bikers going the opposite direction.
ReplyDeleteWe have much to learn about other culture's hand signals. We seem to know the rude ones.
ReplyDeleteHand signals can be very tricky from country to country. It's too easy to make mistakes!
ReplyDeleteI've learned something really interesting today! Thank you for this, Kay.
ReplyDeleteGood points, all! One must be careful in different countries.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Kay. I like the UAE sign for Win, Victory, and Love!
ReplyDeleteI like the V sign making them look slimmer explanation. That makes as much sense as anything else! I'm a little tired of the heart signs people are doing all over the place. It's one of those things that was a nice gesture at first and is now getting old.
ReplyDelete