I'm watching CNN, and they did a story about the hand gesture that is apparently all the rage at the Republican Convention. Apparently some politician from Hawaii was talking about Sen. Obama's lack of experience, and asked "How much experience does he have?" and flashed a hand sign that was meant to signal zero. As I watched the faithful flash the sign back at her, and as they showed shots of the crowd using it on other occasions, I thought, "Wait a minute...I know that gesture!" I took 4 years of German in high school, and a couple more classes in college, and part of it was learning about how harmless gestures here can be misconstrued and incredibly insulting when overseas.
A-okay? Well, not to other people.
"Your Anus / Asshole: Often confused with the 'OK' hand gesture, the rudeness of this sign varies quite considerably from country-to-country. In Mediterranean lands and the South Americas its use is likely to get you seriously injured. However, it is not uncommon to see it used in America as a way of one man telling another that they're 'talking out of their ass'. The key difference between this hand gesture and the OK sign is that the middle, ring and little fingers are curved rather than extend straight. It is easy to see how people that are unfamiliar with the 'OK' sign might react badly to its use."
So should we let the folks at the RNC know what they're telling the rest of the world, or should we just let them continue to call everyone assholes? <evil grin>
14 comments:
Don't you think the double entendre is intentional, since they would hardly object to any gesture that manages to insult Obama in more ways than one? You're dealing with a bunch of overgrown frat boys who still want to "kick Iran's ASS!"
I feel that way about abbreviations in journal entries. Every time someone types PSA I think they are going to write about prostate specific antigen. ~Mary
You have got to be kidding!!!! LOL
Hollie
Jeez...what a bunch of ya-hoo's.
Connie
C'mon. I realize you're speaking tongue in cheek, but t's a zero for pete's sake, nothing more. I've been around vulgar and uncouth men all my life and have never seen that gesture used to = anus. And what someone overseas thinks of a hand gesture given at an American political rally is worth squat, and I would have said the same thing had the gesture been gvien in Denver.
Dan
I have never heard of that. I think they mean zero. That he has zero experience. He never got past Senator, right?
Is it voting time yet?
Sounds like someone had nothing better to do than make something bad out of a hand gesture. I knew what it meant last night. Hope your having a good night.
Missie
Hahaha! That is so funny!
Lori
dear Beth,
wowie....
It could be that , but wait....
maybe the guy just really didn't mean that much ....
Interesting that you know so much about these gestures though.
hugs,natalie
The OK sign was considered a insult in our family and was never permitted to be used. I spend time in Morocco and Turkey and gesture could get you killed. I rather give the bebfit of the doubt that those who gave that singal didn't know they were causing offence.
Laini
lmao and these are the people who want to represent us in foreign lands yeh ok I see that being a real problem ..
lol
hugs
Sherry
... in general, I have a problem with communication in 'fad-language' ... I don't really accept it from folks that I regularly speak with ... slang, crap stuff from hip hop, et. al., will likely draw derision from me ...
I never, ever heard about this. Oh my. It makes me wonder what else I do that offends =-O. LOL I suppose I only do the a-okay with the fingers "up", though. Learn something new every day. Have a good weekend, honey. Hugs, Val xox
http://journals.aol.com/valphish/ThereisaSeason
Ha, just let them go on calling everyone A-holes...it could make for a good story later. LOL. I am obviously missing quite a bit of entertainment by not watching the convention. Who knew!
Lisa
Post a Comment