- "Flipping the bird" around the world:

Thrusting out the middle finger or "flipping the bird" is one of
the more familiar hand gestures. Its popularity is worldwide and
it has been around a very long time. No one is sure how it
originated but we know the Romans used it at the time of Christ.

While the meaning of "the finger" is understood around the world,
there are several gestures that are peculiar to different regions.

In most of Europe the V sign is meant to represent victory when
the palm is kept facing away from you, as was popularized by
Winston Churchill during World War II. However, in England and
Australia, when the palm faces in, the V sign means "shove it."
Former President George Bush made the embarrassing gaffe of
flashing the "shove it" sign to the people of Australia during
his 1992 visit there, much to the amusement of the Aussies. The
President didn't know that there are two ways to give the V sign,
or maybe he just forgot. Either way, it was not much of a victory
for George "down under."

The American OK sign is widely accepted as meaning all right. In
Brazil, however, it is considered obscene. It is also considered
impolite in Russia and Greece. In Colombia, the
OK sign is placed over the nose to imply that a person is a
homosexual.

Tapping the ends of the index fingers together, in Egypt,
indicates that two people are sleeping together. It can also be
used to ask another person to sleep with you. Slapping the
back of the fist with the palm means "f***k you" in Italy and
Chile. The same message can be conveyed in the Mediterranean
by hitting the biceps and lifting the forearm.

In Taiwan, blinking of the eyes is considered impolite. In Italy,
flicking the ear with the finger signifies that the man in
question is effeminate.

Just as there are many gestures in the world to convey one's
negative feelings about another, there are also regional
differences to show approval. Men around the world have several
gestures to imply that a woman is pretty. In the United States,
men lift their eyebrows, in the Arab world a man grabs his beard,
while in Greece he would stroke his cheek. In Italy, a man sticks
his finger into his cheek and rotates it, Frenchmen kiss their
fingertips, and Brazilians will pretend to hold up a telescope to
their eye.

Obviously, almost any gesture can have meaning, either positive
or negative, somewhere in the world. So next time you travel
abroad, be careful how you gesture with your hands, you might
unwittingly attract unwanted attention from the natives.