Good morning! ☀️🌸😎 Do you also do these hand gestures? What do they mean to you? 👍 T-SHIRT UPDATE!!! ✨Yay✨ We now have TWO new summer t-shirt designs: "German Summer" and "Biergarten Bunch" 😍👕👚 You can check them out here: teespring.com/stores/wantedadventure
Wanted Adventure Well, I think the knocking is not just in the University a common figure. or gesture. (can one use the term figure? :D) I know this knocking even from the school after a presentation and in general everywhere where you want to honor somebody.
Wanted Adventure crossing the fingers means in Germany, that you are not telling the truth. We normaly cross our fingers behind the back and then telling someone: of course I will clean up the kitchen. Somtimes someone will say, of they dont' believe you; can I see your fingers?!
I think the knocking is usually done, when you actually have a surface to knock on in front of you. University lecture halls obviously have that, so does the local pub. It's called "akademisches Klopfen", btw (academic knocking). Its backstory is quite interesting. I always figured that, as students have a very healthy....thirst (:P), that it went from the lecture halls to the pubs, where it simply got picked up by non-students as well.
When someone enters a full room at a party or so. He or she often Knocks 2-3 times on each table to greet all the people arround instead of greeting everyone one by one
When i was a kid, fingercrossing meant that that you are lying. So for example two kids one has two toys. The other asks: "Can I have one of your toys?", *cross fingers* "Yes...", "Oh cool", *shows fingers* "Haha I was lying!" *runs away*
it is like a spell that you can lie without punishment. (from god i guess) so kids make it in the believe, that lying is okay if they cross the fingers
One gesture that confused me when I first got to Germany was pulling down a lower eyelid with the index finger. I don't know how widespread this is, but it seems to mean that the person doing it can see through some attempt at deception or a fallacy of some sort.
That's like out irony gesture, at least that's how we use it here. If you say something like "oh of course I stay at home tonight" and you pull your lower eyelid that would mean that you definitely won't stay at home tonight and probably do something you said you wouldn't.
In China people drum 2 fingers (twice) on the table after they get served tea: The story goes that a Chinese Emperor was visiting a tea shop incognito wanted to thank the server for the excellent tea - but as an emperor - he cannot bow to anyone, so he resorted to this special hand gestures. People found it so elegant, that they emulated it and it became an established hand gesture.
And then there's the humorous knocking against one's own or someone else's head for wishing luck.... dreimal aufs Holz klopfen. The joke is that you're also saying you or the other person whose head you're knocking on is a "Holzkopf", a stupid person.
In the U.S., we knock on wood for good luck or to ward off bad luck (and it doesn't work if you knock on any other material). As a joke, people will sometimes knock on their heads to suggest it is made of wood (like a ventriloquist's dummy's head ... so they're suggesting they're a "dummy" or dumb/stupid). :)
In my country crossing your fingers (the American way) like that, it means you're lying to someone. It's mostly in a joking matter. When you say something like "I promise I didn't hide this thing from you" and your fingers are crossed behind your back then it means you're not telling the truth. Some people also cross their legs. You could get later slapped when you do that, so I wouldn't recommend it ;P It's annoying as hell.
Ocean's 8 is coming in 2018 Yeahh it's the same here in Bavaria and i guess in entire Germany, i think they just forgot the meaning of that in the Video ;-)
If someone came into a room and can not say hello to everyone he knocks on a table and the other people wave a hello xD This is how my family and friends say hello if they are too late and to much people are in a room :'D
One thing I find amusing is that tapping your index finger to your temple is called "jemandem den Vogel zeigen" whereas flipping someone the bird in English is of course a slightly different gesture... which is understood the same here in Germany.
i also know that when you arrive on a family event, where you meet people you know but are not very close with, plus they are sitting together at one table and it would take to much time to greet everyone itself, you knock at the head of the table and wave to the whole table to say "Hello" to everyone.
gret video! It is always a pleasure to see where the little differences are! I have alway so much fun with your videos! Thanks for that! Now I will see what the Frickelbude does. I love DIY! have a great weekend!
In Italy, we call the point finger "indice" (literally "pointer"); we count also like German people, so I think it's a European thing to count starting with your thumb. As for clapping, we can whistle, but it could be misunderstood because in the past the whistle meant disapproval (now it is positive most of the time). We don't knock the wood anyway. To say "good luck" we cross the fingers too and we don't do the thumb thing.
We literally call that finger pointing finger in German. In English it’s also the “index finger”, but they might have lost the connection to “indicate”. And I disagree with the ordering part of the video, would still show a thumb for the number one, but raising the arm with just the index finger or all five fingers to get attention. We do whistling here only for very enthusiastic approval, so that’s a very intense form here. We would spitting over somebody’s shoulder be a very intense form of wishing somebody good luck. But due to being intense, those are rare to witness.
in germany you also knock on the table 2-3 times if you say goodbye to a group of people (like in a bar or crowed/loud place). that way you don't have to shake hands with everybody.
@Dana - the waving of the hand in front of the face means "you are completely blank" or "you have no clue what's going on", it's like wiping a whiteboard clean :)
With the knocking: I think applauding by knocking on the table is for formal occasions where clapping would be considered a little... loud, rude and tacky. Knocking on a pub table for me means saying bye to the whole table without shaking everyone's hand individually, which makes sense for a huge crowd and/or a seating arrangement where getting to everyone might be difficult.
In Belgium if you want to order a glass of beer u can put up your the little finger or pinkie . This is the hand gesture for a 'pintje' . This hand gesture is used in clubs or bars where the music is to loud. This ensures that the bartender knows what you want even tho he maybe can't hear you.
what I also heard about pushing thumbs is that you only push the left one because it makes the hand look like a G for Glück from above but I guess that's a regional thing as well
I was told that the knocking instead of applause at the university comes from the times when everyone was writing their notes with pen and paper. Since students would still hold their pen in one hand, they would knock on the table with their other hand to signal applause.
Mr. German Man is right about the University knocking applause thing. In the auditoriums, it's common for students to knock the table with their non-dominant hand for applause or approval, because they are using their dominant hand to take notes and clapping would force them to interrupt their writing and possibly miss some information.
In the Netherlands when you point your finger on the sides of your head, you don't really tap, it's more like twisting a little bit. It also means clever.
I use the thumb to indicate 1 too. But then my forearm is directed upwards and not horizontal as in the thumbsup. This works well in Germany, Norway and Sweden. So far there never has been any confusion when I ordered a beer.
Pointing your finger to your head (repeatedly) does mean, as some people in the comments have already indicated, "Du hast einen Vogel" meaning that you think the other person is a crazy person. That's probably why I also tend to whistle when I wave my hand in front of my face, i.e. imitating a bird's chirp.
The knocking on a table is also a form of greeting. If you come to a gathering of multiple people you know you might just knock a view times on the table when you enter instead of greeting everyone individually. In the same way it is sometimes done if someone leaves. But that might just be regional thing^^
The finger to the forehead is definitely "i have an idea" if the main movement is away from the head (in sign language it's even the official gesture, think "look at what came out of my head!"). If you poke the head it's like "is there anybody in there?" -> slight brain damage.
For the hand waving in front of the face, before seeing this video I probably would have assumed it was some new dance move the person was trying to show me. Lol :)
I usually point to my forehead to do the "your-stupid"-sign. The university knocking thing kinda emerged from when you were really busy writing things down with your one hand but also wanted do honor the speaker so you just did the most comfortable noise with your other hand :) The other knocking on the table thing, I guess, just means hello. when you enter a table or even a room where there are people you haven't seen that day, you would only knock on the table, if it just doesn't feel right to shake everyone's hand (too many people, room to crowded, you just don't want to).
Knocking instead of clapping requires a desk, so, yeah I only know it from classroom/conference room situations. And knocking on the table in social gatherings I never saw as a thanks but as a greeting to a larger group sitting at said table.
Pointing your index finger at your temple means "du hast einen Vogel" and the closest expression in English to that could be "you are bats in the bell tree".
Maybe this is a regional thing (I am from northern Germany) but sometimes if someone is going to sit down on a table with a lot of people sitting on it, the person knocks on the table and says 'Moin' as a greeting, when he or she doesn't want to say hello to each and everyone because of the huge number of people on it.
Table knocking is also a thing older people do in germany, maybe only in southwest, when you enter a bar or restaurant and a group of people you know is sitting there, you go there and knock 2 to 3 times on the table to say "hi everyone" . Doesnt matter if you are going to join them or just stop by to go to your extra table afterwards. My parents, and older people in Rheinland-Pfalz do that a lot, I dont know if its a common german thing
+Ooobacht Cool to hear about that, thanks!! I feel like I have seen this happen before, but I'm not 100% sure. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for when people knock on tables in Germany now. Really interesting :)
In Holland we actually say stuff for the 'you're stupid' thing while doing it as well: 👉🏻👱🏼♀️👉🏻👱🏼♀️ 'tik tik' 👉🏻👱🏼♀️👉🏻👱🏼♀️'draai draai' 👐🏻👱🏼♀️👐🏻👱🏼♀️ 'stik stik' 🤚🏻 'bye bye' Which translates to 'tick tick, turn turn, suffocate suffocate, bye bye' We do this also when we can't stand people. But from what I know only kids really ever do this.
Pointing your pointer finger on your forehead means "you're crazy"/"bei dir piept's" and pointing that finger on the side of your gead means "ah great idea, haven't think of that".
I'm British, so we do have some gestures in common, but I've never seen anyone point to their head to boast about their smart ideas. Also, we have peace signs as well, but it only counts as a peace sign if your palm is facing away from you. If you do it the other way round, it's an obscenity - exactly the same as the middle finger.
Not a German, but we have some gestures taken from them - finger to head gesture for us is not just holdig finger, you tap it to hed a bit (like" knoc, knoc, is ayone home?" - because for studpid there is nobody home (mening head)) . We also count from thumb, and "hold a tumb" for good luck. And you cross fingers whn you lie (you hide your hands from person you lie to).
I'm from Germany and in my area 'crossing fingers' is more common then 'pressing thumbs' but none of them are used often. In most cases we would say it with words instead of a gesture. Tipping the finger (2 or 3 times) on the forehead instead on the temple is more common for 'u r stupid'. During a conversation you could tip your temple with the (crooked) forefinger to say 'clever'.
I wouldn't say it's necessary to straighten the finger when giving the idiot sign, but it's important to tap several times. The knocking for honoring someone must be from very specific circles as I can only recall one situation where everyone did it, and I that situation I assumed it was from a foreign country, as most people in the room where not germans. The only times I knock on a table is either when my second hand is full, so I can't clap, or if I'm joining some friends on a table (knocking twice instead of offering my hand to each single one)
The crossed fingers you did..... In my region we do this with the meaning that somebody should fail. Also jemandem "Unglück" wünschen. So we cross the fingers and say "Hexenfett". ☺
Maybe I can clarify the "finger pointing to your head" thing for you: When you want to gesture to someone "You are stupid" you repeatedly tap your forehead with your fingertip with your finger pointing into your head. When you want to show the "I am smart" gesture, you tap your temple, but you finger is straight and is pointing upwards.
I know of two other gestures that you didn't mention in your video. Number one is a gesture that is done when something was done well or if you express that yourself feel well: you form an O-shape with your index finger and your thumb, the rest of your fingers are spread upside, so you see a shape like a musical note. And the other gesture is when you point with your index and your middle finger directly to your eyes, which means: open your eyes, pay attention, don't be so blind. or also it could mean: I am watching you
Strangely enough in the Netherands when you point your finger at your forehead it means 'you are stupid' but when you point it at the side of your head it means 'you are clever'. Thank you most kindly.
I would say that you can also knock on the table to say hello. Not in generell but when you go to a restaurant or the cafeteria and there are many people at the table who you all know and you don't have to introduce yourself, than you can just knock on the table and say hello because it you just take to long and would be to complicated to greet everybody separately. But maybe this is also a regional thing.
knocking on the wood 3 times is supposed to bring luck. That is the reason we knock on a table. We also do this in bars and other places. If we do that for a person we wish him good luck for his effort :)
the second hand gesture. waving ones hand in front of their face, might be interpreted by an American as wrestler John Cena's signature "you can't see me". it's very popular.
I associate crossing fingers (behind the back) with lying. Like signaling someone behind you that you are lying to the person you are talking to. Kids in kindergarden do it when they make an owth or promise but want to hold an backdoor open.
I think the tapping on the head for 'you are an Idiot' comes from 'Du hast einen Vogel' that is at least the thing i heard as a child most often with this gesture. I think it referes to a little bird in the head (there is also a joke where get someone to lick at their finger and tapping on the forehead wich is called 'dem vöglein wasser geben') Also i know the knocking thing from all events you sit on a table. Knocking is more easy even if you got something in one Hand. Or if you eat with the whole extendet family with all the wineglasses and stuff on the table i could see usual clapping as a bit difficult.
The counting with the fingers thing was one way in WWII to identify american spys in germany. The finger at the temple is not correct I think. I learned as a kid tapping the finger repeatly at the temple means you're crazy, same for taping once and making some circles above the temple, taping once and then lift the finger means "I got an idea" and gripping both temples with one hand and having it over the eyes means "oh god, what an idiot". Touching the temple with one finger and leaving it there means "I'm thinking" One very difficult gesture I think is making a circle with the thumb and the pointer finger. I know it as a gesture like thumbs up, but a friend in the US said to me that some people understand it as "asshole". Same with the thumb and middle+ringfinger closing slow to a circle - most people in germany know it as a order to be quiet. "Daumen drücken" exists in another version - you push the thumb between pointer and middle finger - but in some countries, and the US is one of the them I heard, it means a rude request for sexual intercourse. The V-gesture is dangerous - if you show the back of your hand it means "Fuck you(rself)" with the front it means peace or victory.
Probably the knocking on the table was a gesture of "Saying Hello". When we Germans (mostly in the New Bundesländer I guess) come to a table with people already sitting there, we are already part of the social group, want to join them and have not yet said hello, we can do this by saying "Hello" and knocking on the table instead of shaking hands with everyone. And sometimes everybody else also knocks on the table as a response.
They don't only do it in eastern Germany. I'm living kinda in the western end and people also do it over here. But only a couple of people would knock on the table, most of us wouldn't, but still everybody understands this gesture.
I never raged so much in one of your videos😂 Everything depends on the region you live and some other things!!!! 😂 We also cross the fingers for washing good luck!
Hi there, i am a Girl Woman who lives in Germany and i wanna tell you something about the Knock on the Table, cuz i had miss the explain for this.We knock on the Table too, if we speaking about a death of a Person, but dont want it. Like: "If ur mother dont exist anymore, u Need to care for urself!" - then we knock on the Table. That means: "I hope it dont happen!" We also knock on the Table, if we make a promise. That means: "i will hold it."
there is this saying Bei dir tickts/piepts wohl. this would go with the pointing at the head. By pointing on your own head you symbolise that somebody else's head doesn't seem to work properly.
Peace feels more like victory to me, but since I'm used to English I also know how close it is to an insult using it with your palm pointing towards you. I see too many people using the two-finger-salute these days in inapropriate situations, so I'm certain not everybody does know.
Tapping index finger to the head: "Bei dir piept's wohl" (You're crazy/stupid) Waving hand in front of the face: "Brett vor'm Kopf" (Stupid/crazy, but also unobserving, oblivious)
I know that making a circle with your thump and forefinger, it means "ok" in the western world. But in Japan and Korea it means money (shape of a coin). In certain parts of middle and southern Europe (although not in Spain or Portugal) the gesture is considered offensive, as in you are a zero or you are nothing. In the Arab world, this sign represents the evil eye, and is used as a curse, sometimes in conjunction with verbal cursing. So the context and contry is quite important with some gestures
I think you wouldn't just point to your head, but make a circle with your finger. That could mean "Something not working up there?" or something like that. I believe that's what people over here do (I'm from NRW btw). But tapping that point repeatedly also works.
I'm from Greece and in my country there is an offensive hand gesture called moutza (μούτζα) which is the pointing of your open palm at someone or something when you are mad at them or when you want to show disrespect . Sometimes between friends it might mean like in a comic sarcastic way that "you're stupid" like "what did you do there " . Many foreigners confuse moutza with waving with an open palm but that is not the case it is totally proper to wave with an open palm in Greece nobody is going to take offense in it.
Hey Dana, maybe i can help with the reason why and when the germans knock: There is an old believe that said that the devil can't touch oak/wood in general (not sure) That's why in german taverns, the "stammtisch" (you sure have heard of it) is often made out of massive oak - as a greeting one would then knock on the wood three times to indicate that he is not the devil. Today it is often used as a more discrete but often also more honorable way of clapping for it is not as noisy as the latter Hope I could help, Have a nice weekend :D
If you are having your hand as a fist and then rub your thumb against your pointing finger (like playing a tiny violine with two fingers) means you want to pay (to a waiter/waitress) or it can mean tha something is really expensive
Dana, knocking especially on a wooden material could also mean something like I hope I stay lucky like that in the future. E.g. I say thank god I've never had an accident. Then I'd knock on a wooden table or something like that to express that I appreciate this luck and hope it'll stay with. If I don't knock I could risk getting unlucky and have an accident (in this kind of example) 🙈😄
You can wave your hand in front of your face, tap your finger repeatedly on your forehead or the side of your head or you can spin your finger while pointing at (or to?) the side of your head. These gestures mean the same :D "Are you out of your mind?" / "You are totally stupid" / "I can't take you serious" or something like that.
Maybe it depends on where you live in Germany, but where I live the first gesture (pointing with the finger on the forehead) means "Du hast einen Vogel" (literally: "You have a bird") what is done when you thing a person is kinda crazy (stupid would fit too but crazy is more common). My mother likes to say "Hast du den Vogel gefüttert?" (Have you fed the bird?") When I do this to like make it ab bit funnier :3
Crossing fingers is also a thing in Germany but it has a complete different meaning You cross your fingers behind your back while promising something. The finger crossing neutralize the promise. Mostly kids use this hand gesture. And as I just read on Wikipedia the finger crossing symbolizes the crucifix and shall prevent that someone goes to hell when breaking a promise. But I guess today it's just used as an excuse to break promises.
Knocking on a table is also a sign for saying 'hello'. it's often used by elderly people, for example, when they come into a pub and a bigger group of friends is already sitting around the table. Then you just knock on the table twice. It's faster than shaking hands with everyone. But this 'ritual' is not so common with the younger generation.
I barely use any gestures like pointing to the head or wave my hand in front of the face, but I know them of course. I also rarely knock on the table because I saw a movie as a child, where some evil villains did this and looked quite funny (Momo, from 1986). So I avoided it because I didn't want to look as dumb and funny as these villains. :) What I do use sometimes is this gesture, where you make a circle with your thumb and pointy finger as sign for "ok". I don't see it so often though and in some regions of europe this is actually considered pretty insulting as far as I know. However, if you actually want to insult someone, you can just show your middle finger. :)
ihr habt den "Stinkefinger zeigen" vergessen :D Soweit ich weiß benutzen wir das selbe Handzeichen für "OK" .. und Victory (umgedrehtes peace zeichen)... oder das "Westberlin W" was vermutlich ne kopie von westside ist und die Metal Hörner fehlen auch o,o was auch fehlt ist jemanden die faust zeigen, ich meine wenn man den einen arm dabei in der armbeuge des anderen hat oder jm den hintern zeigen während man draufklopft.. weiß ja nich wie international das alles ist, aber es gibt jede menge gesten die nicht dabei waren, wenn man mal drüber nachdenkt Das "Brett vorm Kopf Zeichen" kann man auch so machen als würde man was vor seinem gesicht fangen, statt davor zu wedeln.
I always wondered is the "so la la" or "naja" hand gesture (for lack of a better expression) a thing in the US? Like if you ask someone after a test how it was and it wasn't bad but not really good he wiggles his flat hand? Do you know what I mean?
Dear Dana, I know at least one other usage of knocking. When someone enters a company of many people and doesn't want to shake hands with everybody he/she can simply knock twice on the table or at the doorframe in a (very informal) way of greeting everybody. YS twinmama
i think the hand waving infront of the face comes as a hint to what medical personell or so do when they want to test if you are aware of your surroundings. you wave infront of your own face like "did i realy just see you doing THIS? or am i only getting mad"
moment … ist das nicht die Quotenfrau? Õ_Õ anyway, it's mostly not just one simple pointing. you can repeat the movement several times because it's mostly combined with "hast du einen Vogel?" so the finger represents a woodpecker pecking on your forehead.
Hey, Dana, that hand gesture at 2:21 does mean something in America. It means "you can't see me!" 😂😂😂😂 If someone did that to me I'd think they are a John Cena fan! 😆
I cross finger too,it`s better to see from afar.But I say: "Ich drück Dir die Daumen" to wish good luck. I would not want to take the risk of getting misunderstood showing a fist,just as you said.
In American sign language waving your hand in front of your face with a open and closing your hand at the end means pretty, beautiful. Pointing at your head while touching means smart in American Sign Language.
