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I went to high school in Japan for a year. Something that tripped me up for a while is the gesture for "come here". It's equivalent to the English gesture for

I went to high school in Japan for a year. Something that tripped me up for a while is the gesture for "come here". It's equivalent to the English gesture for "go away". (Try gesturing "go away" like you're shooing a bug away and "come here" like you want to tell someone a secret. Your hand flips 180 degrees, but it's basically the same gesture.)

saalweachter 6y ago
Does the atom of the movement change as well, or just the orientation of the hand/arm? (I would make the "come here" gesture with my hand starting closer to the person and moving towards me, and the "go away" gesture in reverse, although it might be difficult to tell because the motion would be repeated and confounded with moving my hand/arm into place in either case.)
keanebean86 6y ago
My Indian coworkers shake their head side to side for yes and no. When I first starting working with them I was always a little mad that they never agreed with me until I realized what was going on. You can tell if it's yes or no depending on speed but thanks to covid WFH for months I've forgotten which is which. Going back to the office is going to be an adjustment.
- advisedwang 6y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj56IPJOqWE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj56IPJOqWE
- taneq 6y ago
  There are something like four distinct head-waggle motions with different meanings.
- ChrisRR 6y ago
  It may also be a bit confusing to many people as Indians tend to gently wobble their head when someone is talking to show that they're listening. I believe it's a sign of respect.
JoshTko 6y ago
The gestures are similar but are different. The Japanese version is typically performed with the arm in an upraised angle and is a quick repeated wave. For a go away gesture the arm is parallel to the ground
kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
As further warning, the Western fingers up "come here" gesture has an offensive connotation to the Japanese.
totetsu 6y ago
I've had a few confusing moments with train conductors shooing me off a train, but actually telling me to hurry up and get on.
frequentnapper 6y ago
Not exactly sure what tripped you up. The palm is facing downwards, but the hand motion is opposite and easy to tell even if you're a foreigner. Source: am foreigner living in Japan
monoideism 6y ago
Sounds similar to the gesture for "come here" in Turkey and other Turkic countries. Which is interesting, given the putative shared origin of Japanese and Turkic languages (although the hypothesized membership of Japanese in an Altaic language superfamily is still very controversial). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages#Korean_and_Japanese_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages#Korean_and_Ja...
rhn_mk1 6y ago
What do they actually look like? I'm struggling to understand what two gestures are 180 degrees to each other.

saalweachter 6y ago

Does the atom of the movement change as well, or just the orientation of the hand/arm? (I would make the "come here" gesture with my hand starting closer to the person and moving towards me, and the "go away" gesture in reverse, although it might be difficult to tell because the motion would be repeated and confounded with moving my hand/arm into place in either case.)

keanebean86 6y ago

My Indian coworkers shake their head side to side for yes and no. When I first starting working with them I was always a little mad that they never agreed with me until I realized what was going on. You can tell if it's yes or no depending on speed but thanks to covid WFH for months I've forgotten which is which. Going back to the office is going to be an adjustment.

advisedwang 6y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj56IPJOqWE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj56IPJOqWE
taneq 6y ago
There are something like four distinct head-waggle motions with different meanings.
ChrisRR 6y ago
It may also be a bit confusing to many people as Indians tend to gently wobble their head when someone is talking to show that they're listening. I believe it's a sign of respect.

JoshTko 6y ago

The gestures are similar but are different. The Japanese version is typically performed with the arm in an upraised angle and is a quick repeated wave. For a go away gesture the arm is parallel to the ground

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago

As further warning, the Western fingers up "come here" gesture has an offensive connotation to the Japanese.

totetsu 6y ago

I've had a few confusing moments with train conductors shooing me off a train, but actually telling me to hurry up and get on.

frequentnapper 6y ago

Not exactly sure what tripped you up. The palm is facing downwards, but the hand motion is opposite and easy to tell even if you're a foreigner. Source: am foreigner living in Japan

monoideism 6y ago

Sounds similar to the gesture for "come here" in Turkey and other Turkic countries. Which is interesting, given the putative shared origin of Japanese and Turkic languages (although the hypothesized membership of Japanese in an Altaic language superfamily is still very controversial). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages#Korean_and_Japanese_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altaic_languages#Korean_and_Ja...

rhn_mk1 6y ago

What do they actually look like? I'm struggling to understand what two gestures are 180 degrees to each other.