The Thumbs Down Gesture (Eitan Vilker)

Title: The Thumbs Down Gesture

General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore: Hand gesture
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Daniel (last name withheld)
• Date Collected: 10-21-18

Informant Data:

• Daniel was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 2004. His father is an attorney for the state of Rhode Island, and his mother is a psychologist who operates a private practice. Daniel and his family are Jewish. He has lived in the small town of East Greenwich for most of his life. Daniel attends Cole Middle School. His family hails from both Western and Eastern Europe.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Children often use gestures that can be perceived in a neutral or negative light depending upon the situation. Gestures that are universally offensive are more likely to be considered taboo, like the middle finger, so gestures that are insulting sometimes but not always are a favorite of children.
• Social Context: This hand gesture was brought up as a result of the interviewer asking what insulting gestures Daniel knew. He learned it from his parents and siblings. Most insulting gestures children make are used in school settings, physical activities and games, casual conversations, and at home- in short, the situations in which children spend the majority of their time.

Item:

• Making this gesture merely involves holding the fingers of one hand into one’s fist and extending one’s thumb. This gesture indicates disapproval with a course of action, an opinion, or another person in general. It can be used as a shorthand for just saying “no” or it can be used in a dismissive fashion.

Associated File:

Transcript:

• “I put my thumb down to sort of say ‘no’ or ‘you’re wrong.'”

Collector’s Comments:

• This is one of the most open-ended gestures observed. It can be very negative or neutral, and it can have many different meanings and apply to a large range of situations.

Collector’s Name: Eitan Vilker

Tags/Keywords:

• Insulting Gesture
• Thumbs Down

The Lifting Both Hands Up Gesture (Eitan Vilker)

Title: The Lifting Both Hands Up Gesture

General Information about Item:

• Customary Lore: Hand gesture
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: Ari (last name withheld)
• Date Collected: 10-21-18

Informant Data:

• Ari was born in New Jersey in 2001. His father is an lawyer, and his mother is a doctor. who operates a private practice. Ari and his family are Jewish. He has lived in Rhode Island for most of his life. Ari attends East Greenwich High School. He has family from Israel and from Germany.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: Children like to use gestures that can apply to multiple different scenarios and that they can have plausible deniability for if they are accused of being rude. Thus, gestures that can be polite in certain contexts but unkind in others are a favorite of many children.
• Social Context: This hand gesture was brought up as a result of the interviewer asking what insulting gestures Ari knew. He’s not certain where he learned it from, but he suspects it originates from within his family. Most insulting gestures children make are used in school settings, physical activities and games, casual conversations, and at home- in short, the situations in which children spend the majority of their time.

Item:

• When using this gestures, one should hold the fingers of each hand together and bob them up and down a few times. This gesture is actually used in a polite or neutral manner more often than it is used in a rude way, but it can be used to indicate that small talk with another person would be a waste of time and it would be best to end the social encounter as soon as possible.

Associated File:

Ari_Gesture-239qm8r

Transcript:

• “Interviewer: When would you do that? Ari: Like, to greet someone.”

Collector’s Comments:

• This gesture has a very specific meaning but it can be used in a few different ways, which makes it very useful if one’s goal is to do something that looks innocuous while conveying an entirely different meeting.

Collector’s Name: Eitan Vilker

Tags/Keywords:

• Insulting Gestures
• Lifting Both Hands Up
• Greeting