Due: Monday, March 4, 2013; 10am CST
1) Have you ever offended someone of another culture by
doing a nonverbal gesture that you later realized had a different meaning to
that culture? If not, please give an example of a gesture that would have an offensive interpretation within a different culture.
1. As far as I know, I have not offended someone of another culture with a nonverbal gesture. One example of this is the use of the middle finger. In China, the middle finger is used instead of the pointer finger in many cases to point at something. In the United States, using the middle finger almost always has a negative connotation. People automatically take using the middle finger in a bad way. Another example of a gesture that can have an offensive interpretation is showing the soles of your shoes when sitting. In America, this does not have any meaning. However, in countries such as Thailand, Japan, and France this is a sign of disrespect. The soles of your shoes are the lowest and dirtiest part of you.
ReplyDelete2. When someone gives me the thumbs up sign, I take this to mean "Good job" or "Way to go." In the Unites States, this is the understood meaning for the thumbs up sign. I'm sure that this sign means different things across different cultures.
I can honestly say that I do not think I have. An example would taking all five finger together in a slight C shape and taking it under your face and by your neck and gesturing out at a person. In Italy this gesture means the same as the middle finger in America. Some people in America do know of this and use it as an alternative to the middle finger because not as many people know what it means.
ReplyDeleteTechnically speaking it could have variety of meanings. It is a collaborative thing with what else the person giving the thumbs up is doing. Are they saying anything and if they are what is their paralanguage do they have a tone that comes off as sarcastic or are they being sincere. If it is someone in our own American culture through this analysis we should be able to figure out what they mean by it. Although it can have a number of different meanings I would say that our culture typically uses thumbs up for emphasis of someone doing a good thing, or a job well done.
1. I do not believe I have ever offended someone from another country with a gesture and not knowing it. I know that the "ok" sign in America, where you have your thumb and pointer finger make an O has an inappropriate meaning in some European countries, like France and Italy. The two finger peace sign also has a sexual meaning in some eastern countries as well.
ReplyDelete2. When someone gives me a thumbs up, it is a positive meaning to me. It means good job, well done, or something along those lines. In other countries, it doesn't have a positive meaning and is very insulting, but in America it's a positive thing.
As far as I know, I have never offended someone from another culture with a gesture. One gesture that is different in other cultures is the thumbs up sign. In Latin America, West Africa, and some European countries, the thumbs up is basically the same thing as the middle finger is in our culture. In the Middle East, it is the biggest insult you can give someone.
ReplyDeleteIn our culture, the thumbs up sign generally means good job, a job well done, good to go, or some other positive, informal signal. If someone gives you the thumbs up, it means they are happy with what you've done.
1. As far as I know I have not offended another culture with nonverbal communication. I do know that Italians get offended when someone swipes their chin with the hand. Meaning disrespect or dislike to that person. Also, oddly enough, that same gesture is a meaning for disrespect and profanity to another in sign language. This movement in sign language has been known to almost be slang, so I am assuming the gesture had evolved over time.
ReplyDelete2. When someone does the thumbs up gesture, I instantly receive the message as good or well done. Nonverbally, the thumbs up sign is a positive meaning that sends a good message. This gesture is used often to congratulate. As a child, after a soccer game or an excellent grade I remember either a teacher or my parents doing this gesture to me.
1. There was one time when my friends and I waved at my priest with the Little Rascals wave with our hand under our chin and wiggling our fingers. He looked very shocked and didn't know how to respond. We told him we were just telling him hello, but he told us that back in his day it used to mean something sexual. It was something to do with necking and spooning. We were very embarrassed, but we told him that now that was not what it meant. He just kind of laughed it off, and now it is somewhat of a joke between us and we always wave at each other like that.
ReplyDelete2. When someone gives me a thumbs up, it always means things like good job or nice work. It is always a positive thing when someone give you thumbs up. I never think of it as something bad, just a congratulatory gesture.
I don't recall a time I have offended someone. An example of a offensive nonverbal a smile is one of the most common examples of a facial expression in different cultures. While Americans smile freely at strangers, in Russia this is considered strange and even impolite. In Asian cultures a smile isn't necessarily an expression of joy and friendliness but it can be used to convey pain and embarrassment. For many Scandinavians a smile or any facial expression used to convey emotions is untypical because it is considered a weakness to show emotions.
ReplyDelete2.When I receive a thumbs up, I take it as a sign of good job. Though other cultures may take it in a different way, I have been raised to take it that way during school, sports, and my family.
1) I would like to think that I have never offended anyone with a nonverbal signal, but if I have I can say that it was accidental. I have heard that in Asia, they use their entire hand to point at something instead of just one finger. To them, it is offensive because it is a signal to tell dogs to come to them.
ReplyDelete2)When I see the "thumb's up" signal, I take it as a 'good job' or 'okay'. This is probably because I have grown up to look at it as a positive non-verbal gesture that I have seen many times throughout my life.
1. I can't recall a time where I insulted someone from a different culture with a nonverbal gesture. I'm hoping that I have not, but it is possible. After reading up on some of common American hand gestures that are offensive to other cultures, I realized some of the things I gesture daily might be offending someone around me. One that stuck with me was the signal we use with our pointer finger to reel someone or to say, "Come here." Although I would not use that gesture to someone who I am formal with, I use it among friends. In the Philippines, that gesture means the same thing but it is a sign only used on people who you see as worthless or low.
ReplyDelete2. If someone gives me a thumbs up, I take it as "good job" or "sounds good." I just used a thumbs up emoticon in a text earlier to say "Yes." My culture has taught me to see a thumbs up as a good sign and a thumbs down as bad.
1) Have you ever offended someone of another culture by doing a nonverbal gesture that you later realized had a different meaning to that culture? If not, please give an example of a gesture that would have an offensive interpretation within a different culture.
ReplyDeleteI have not knowingly offended someone of a different culture by using a nonverbal gesture. My father, on the other hand, once told me of a time he once insulted an Arab man from Egypt on accident. He used to be in the Navy and travelled to many different locations around the world. While at meeting, he crossed one of his legs over the other. This showed the bottom of his foot toward the Arab man. My father soon learned that this nonverbal gesture is a sign of disrespect because the Arab people associate the bottom of the shoe with the dirt. Through my father’s mistakes, I have become more open minded in regards to nonverbal gestures that can possible offend someone of a different culture.
2) When someone gives you the thumbs up sign, what is your interpretation of the meaning? What are they saying to you nonverbally?
When another person gives me the thumbs up sign, I think of the nonverbal gesture as meaning that the person giving the gesture is fine. An example of this is when a person falls and then gives the thumbs up to show that they are okay and not seriously injured. If used in a different context, however, it could be a symbol of good luck or a job well done.
1.I do not believe I have offended someone of another culture by doing a nonverbal gesture that I then figured out had a different meaning. An example of a gesture that would have an offensive interpretation in another culture is eye contact. While many Americans consider direct eye contact to be useful in acknowledging that one is paying attention to the other, for Latinos, it is better to have indirect eye contact with authority. If an American didn’t realize this cultural barrier, a Latino could take great offense to this gesture.
ReplyDelete2.When someone gives me the thumbs up sign, my interpretation of the meaning is that all is well. Nonverbally, they are saying that they either like something/have a great interest in it, that everything is going great, or that they have positive thoughts and feelings in a certain situation. Of course, this is from an American viewpoint, and I’m sure it is open to other interpretations as well. For example, in American society, if someone were doing a taste test to rate how well they liked a restaurant's food selection, they would give the thumbs up if they had a high rating/liking, or a thumbs down if they had a low rating/liking.
1.) I have never offended someone with nonverbal gestures; that I am aware of. There have been many situations that could have gone completely wrong if I by choice or accident did a nonverbal gesture to someone of another culture. I had been in a situation where I was staying with a family who the parents were almost completely deaf but could hear slightly because of hearing aids. Although their children could hear and speak to each other verbally, the whole family still spoke with sign language. Because of this, I had to remind myself multiple ways how to remember to say thank you in sign language, because there is a symbol quite close to that of thank you but actually is a swear. One slight wrong movement of my hand and I could have made a huge mistake and become a rude person in the eyes of their family.
ReplyDelete2.)Generally a thumbs up is a good and positive thing. For instance if you ask someone if your idea seems like a good idea, and they give you the thumbs up than that means that they do think that your idea is good. Though depending on their facial expressions, the thumbs up can be used differently. For example, if they have a genuine smile on their face when they give you the thumbs up than they really mean that they think it is good. Though if they have a straight face or frown on their face than they may be using the thumbs up in a sarcastic way.
1.) I don't think that I have ever offended nonverbally that I can think of, but if you were to give a thumbs you were to give a thumbs up here it would be like someone is saying good job. In west Africa, Germany, and some other countries that is just the same as using the middle finger here it can be very offensive to someone in that culture.
ReplyDelete2.) Thumbs up to me is saying good job or we are ready to go. For example while playing basketball my coach would sometimes give me a thumbs up letting me know that I did a good job. But when I am driving and we are waiting to leave mom is driving one car and I am driving another she sometimes gives me a thumbs up telling me that we are ready to go.
1) I don't think I have ever offended anyone non-verbally, but if you were to give a peace sign with your hands with your palm facing you, in England, it is the equivalent to flipping someone off in the United States. There, to do the peace sign you would want to have your palm facing away from you.
ReplyDelete2) To me thumbs up is saying good job, saying yes, or that something is ready or good. It definitely isn't offensive, more of a gesture of encouragement. I do know that in other cultures it can have a very different meaning than in the United States .
1) I have never offended someone else by dong a gesture and non-verbally offending them. I tend to keep it simple when it comes to other cultures, typically sticking to globally accepted gestures such as a handshake or quite possibly a bow. Simply follow the other person and mimick.
ReplyDelete2) Typically thumbs up means a symbol of approval. Whatever action you had just completed deserves some sort of gratification, hence the thumbs up. The American thumbs up is typically a good thing, who knows what it could possibly be in other countries.