Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: Evan Barton

General Info about Item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of origin: Italy
• Informant: Evan Barton
• Date collected: 11/2/2018

Informant Data:

Evan Barton was born on November 3, 1997 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His father is half Italian, and he visited his grandparents frequently. Evan is currently a junior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Native American Studies. He is on the Ujima Dance Troupe and is a member of the local fraternity The Tabard. He also works at Novack, the school cafe.

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected in the Dartmouth Baker Berry Library. During his interview, he talked about how he was extremely close with his grandmother and would visit his grandparents a lot. During these visits, his grandmother would tell him about her Italian background and once showed him an insulting gesture as a fun joke.

        Cultural Context: When telling the story, Evan smiled at the memory and the joke he shared with his grandmother. Evan is a proud member of the LGBTQ community, and it is ironic that the gesture is an insult about a man’s female partner. The gesture he shared means “your wife/girlfriend is not faithful.” This gesture is used to taunt men and tease them about their girlfriends.

Item:

Curling your middle and ring finger down with your thumb, with your index and pinky finger sticking up and facing outwards means “your wife/girlfriend is not faithful.”

Associated Image:

Informant’s Comments:

Evan thought this gesture was fun to learn because he could tease his friends with it, but the gesture would not have the same impact on him.

Collector’s Comments:

I think this gesture is interesting because it has a “rock n’ roll” connotation in the United States, but has a completely different meaning in Italian culture.

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian

Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: G.S.

General Info about Item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of Origin: Italy
• Informant: G.C.
• Date collected: 11/6/2018

Informant Data:

G.C. grew up in Miami with his family. Both of his parents have Italian ancestry and enjoyed sharing their heritage with him and his twin brother.  He is currently a senior at Dartmouth College where he is majoring in Psychology and French. He plans on going to graduate school for psychology next year.  He is a former member of SigEp and also participates in DREAM.

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: This piece of folklore was collected in the Dartmouth Baker Berry Library.  During his interview, he talked about how he joined the Italian Club at Dartmouth to learn more about his Italian background.  Growing up he did not learn much Italian and wanted to become more involved in college. During one of the club meetings, another member taught some of the group different gestures, including insulting ones.

        Cultural Context: When talking about these gestures, he started laughing because he remembered how fun he thought it was to learn gestures.  He said he had a good time using them with friends because he thought it was entertaining that they did not know what the gestures meant. The first gesture he shared means “you are boring” and is demonstrated by waving both of your hands.  

Item:

Waving both hands with open palms while making an annoyed facial expression.  In Italian culture, this means “you are boring.”

Associated Image: 

Informant’s Comments:

Gio noted that he thought it was fun learning gestures that his parents never showed him.  He said that he felt more connected to the culture and joining the Italian Club on campus has helped him learn more about his background.

Collector’s Comments:

I find it interesting that the hand motions are very exaggerated by the performer. I think it’s fascinating that Italians have a gesture for this phrase.

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian

Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: Carson Spahr

General Info about item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of origin: Italy
• Informant: Carson Spahr
• Date collected: 10/27/18

Informant Data:

Carson Spahr was born on April 25th, 1997 in Greenwich, Connecticut. He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts.  Currently, he is a senior at Dartmouth College majoring in government. He is on the Varsity Squash team and is a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.  He enjoys traveling and visited Italy last spring with a group of friends.

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: While in the King Arthur Flour cafe in the Dartmouth Library, Carson told me a story about his trip to Italy.  Since he has Italian relatives, he was excited to visit Italy and better understand the culture. When I asked him about learning any gestures while he was there, he told me a story about how he was walking on a very busy street and bumped into someone, making them drop their things. The man made this gesture that Carson later learned meant “go to hell.”

        Cultural Context: During the interview, Carson noted how prevalent gestures were in Italy.  He said that people frequently used them and he did not always know what people meant, so he usually had to go look it up.  This gesture showed the different contexts that a gesture can be used in Italian society.

Item:

Keeping your fingers and hand firm, and slicing it downwards means “go to hell.”

Associated Image:

Informant’s Comments:

He said that it was interesting not knowing the complete meaning of his interactions with people while traveling around Italy.  At first, he was not sure what the vendor meant but after looking at his face, Carson could tell that he had offended the man and that the gesture was definitely negative.

Collector’s Comments:

I think Carson’s interview was interesting because he did not know about the meaning of the gesture but was able to know that it was an insulting gesture.  

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian

Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: Carson Spahr

General Info about item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of origin: Italy
• Informant: Carson Spahr
• Date collected: 10/27/18

Informant Data:

Carson Spahr was born on April 25th, 1997 in Greenwich, Connecticut. He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts.  Currently, he is a senior at Dartmouth College majoring in government. He is on the Varsity Squash team and is a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity.  He enjoys traveling and visited Italy last spring with a group of friends.

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: While in the King Arthur Flour cafe in the Dartmouth Library, Carson told me a story about his trip to Italy.  Since he has Italian relatives, he was excited to visit Italy and better understand the culture. When I asked him about learning any gestures while he was there, he told me a story about the street merchants he constantly interacted with.  He was staying in a very touristy location where vendors would stand on the sidewalks and try to sell their products. There was on toy that caught Carson’s eye and he attempted to bargain for it. The vendor asked for 10 euro but Carson did not have enough and offered only 2 euro.  This insulted the vendor which was shown by his expression and gesture that Carson later learned meant “You are crazy!”

        Cultural Context: During the interview, Carson noted how prevalent gestures were in Italy.  He said that people frequently used them and he did not always know what people meant, so he usually had to go look it up.  This gesture showed the different contexts that a gesture can be used in and how street vendors are also a significant part of Italian society.  

Item:

Pointing your index finger to your temple means “you are crazy.”

Associated Image:

Informant’s Comments:

He said that it was interesting not knowing the complete meaning of his interactions with people while traveling around Italy.  At first, he was not sure what the vendor meant but after looking at his face, Carson could tell that he had offended the man and that the gesture was definitely negative.

Collector’s Comments:

I think Carson’s interview was interesting because he did not know about the meaning of the gesture but was able to know that it was an insulting gesture.  

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian

Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: Lauren McNabb

General Info about item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of origin: Italy
• Informant: Lauren McNabb
• Date collected: 11/4/18

Informant Data:

Lauren McNabb was born on September 25, 1998 in Hong Kong.  Her family later moved to Taiwan, where she spent most of her childhood.  She has a very large family, with a diverse ethnic and cultural background. Her grandmother is Italian. Currently, Lauren is a junior at Dartmouth College where she is majoring in computer science and is a member of the local Chi Delta sorority.  

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: During this visit to Italy, Lauren’s grandparents taught her multiple gestures, two of which are meant to insult people.  Without knowing the meanings behind the gestures, Lauren went around sharing what she had just learned with the rest of her family. After doing one of the insulting gestures, her parents and grandparents burst into laughter.  They then told her what it meant, thinking it was funny that she had just offended her family without knowing.

        Cultural Context: When explaining and demonstrating these gestures, Lauren had a childish smile on her face.  She remembered how it turned into a funny memory between her parents and grandparents. Lauren learned these gestures from her grandparents when she visited her family in Sicily, Italy.  During her trip to Italy, she noted how her Italian relatives incorporated lots of gestures throughout the conversation and how they seemed to be talking without using any words.

Item:

Pinching your fingers together, with the fingertips facing upward while twisting your hand means “loser you’re all alone.”

Associated video and transcript (see below)

Informant’s Comments:

Lauren remarked that she now knows not to use these gestures to others unless you want to upset someone.  However, she sometimes still uses them with her parents as a funny inside joke.

Collector’s Comments:

I think it is interesting how both the gestures Lauren provided involved pinching of the fingers together.

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian

Folklore Form/Genre: Italian gesture

Informant: Margaret Pionzio

General Info about item:

• Insulting gesture, customary folklore
• Language: Italian
• Country of origin: Italy
• Informant: Margaret Pionzio
• Date collected: 11/4/18

Informant Data:

Margaret Pionzio was born on December 3, 1997 in Northern Virginia.  She grew up in Lorton, Virginia with her family. Her dad’s side of the family is originally from Italy, which allowed Maggie to grow up with some exposure to Italian culture and customs.  Some of her dad’s family still lives in Italy, but comes to the United States for family holidays. Maggie is currently a junior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she majors in math, is a member of the Varsity Swimming and Diving team, and is part of the Alpha Phi sorority.  

Contextual Data:

        Social Context: I collected this piece of folklore from Maggie on the first floor of Baker Berry Library at Dartmouth College.  During her interview, Maggie remarked that she thought it was neat knowing gestures from different cultures. She told me that she thinks it’s entertaining and funny to think that she can insult someone without them even knowing if they do not know the meaning of Italian gestures.  Maggie also commented that when her Italian relatives visit, they use a large variety of gestures, which adds to the conversation without using words.

        Cultural Context: Maggie discussed two insulting Italian gestures that she knew.  She originally learned the folklore from her dad when she was about six years old.  She recalled her dad showing her these gestures, but then telling her not to do them.  Maggie’s father told her this significance and meaning and how they would offend people if she did it in Italy.  One of these gestures means

Item:

Curling your fingers, but sticking your thumb out and dragging it across your throat is a gesture that means “you’re dead.”

Associated video and transcript (see below)

Informant’s Comments:

Maggie commented that the way in which she learned about the gesture shows how people can learn things by passing them down through generations.

Collector’s Comments:

I think it is interesting that this gesture has a very similar meaning, if not the same meaning, in the United States.

Collector’s Name: Lizzie Clark and Emily Wang

Tags/Keywords: gestures, insults, Italian