Talking with your hands

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amother

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:27 pm

Ok. Let’s talk about “talking with your hands” not in as sign language;)
Do you find yourself doing it often? Do you get nervous when others do? Are you very animated but get embarrassed when doing it in a professional setting (that’s me

)

sequoia

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:30 pm

Yes, yes, and yes.

amother

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:32 pm

sequoia wrote:

Yes, yes, and yes.

Lol! I was by the Dr with my baby & was physically restraining one hand over the other because my brain didn’t want to obey stopping the dance....

icedcoffee

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:36 pm

I'm a teacher and sometimes I have to watch myself on video teaching. The whole experience is "ohh noooo what am I doing with my hands!" I don't think I do it in general but when I'm standing in front of 30 pairs of eyes watching me, it seems to come out.

amother

Silver

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:39 pm

It's a very Jewish trait.

amother

Bisque

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 3:50 pm

Lol!!! My husband can't talk without his hands even late at night when he's in bed and it's dark in the room!!! LOL

zaq

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 5:58 pm

I used to till someone pointed it out to me. Then I stopped. I will gesture to illustrate sizes, shapes and directions but I no longer make meaningless rhythmic motions in time to my words, which is what most people mean when they say people talk with their hands.

zaq

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 6:00 pm

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

It's a very Jewish trait.

Oh? I’ve been taken for Italian or Greek.

sequoia

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 6:07 pm

Me: her fiance is half-Jewish, half-Italian
Friend: so does he talk with his hands or does he talk with his hands?

amother

Lilac

Tue, Nov 05 2019, 6:08 pm

I do. My family members make fun of me.

Ruchel

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 2:26 am

not really, my husband not at all

singleagain

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 5:34 am

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

It's a very Jewish trait.

My understanding is that it was an everyone trait. And actually, I've heard that if you can't remember what you wanted to say look at your hands and that night help you remember

amother

Beige

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 6:47 am

I am the queen of talking with my hands. I am also fluent in sign language and work with the deaf community, so I find myself signing while I speak just out of habit.
But sometimes it's just me being dramatic and animated, and just using big motions.

yo'ma

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 7:00 am

I do, but not overly. I do it a lot more when I speak to someone that doesn’t speak the same language as me. I have also done it over the phone. Smile

amother

Silver

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 7:03 am

singleagain wrote:

My understanding is that it was an everyone trait. And actually, I've heard that if you can't remember what you wanted to say look at your hands and that night help you remember

I'm not saying only Jews do it. But it is way more predominately something Jews will do when they are speaking animatedly. Probably because of the way gemara learning takes place with chavrusahs, and over the centuries it's become a real trait. Take a look in an intense yeshiva you will see A LOT of hand gesturing going on.
It's something you will notice non religious Jews doing, too. Remember the thread about being able to identify who is Jewish just by looking at them? This is one way!

amother

Silver

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 7:05 am

zaq wrote:

Oh? I’ve been taken for Italian or Greek.

I've read that genetically Jews are more similar to Italians than any other group. Because we originally come from the Mediterranean area.

amother

Beige

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 7:09 am

amother [ Silver ] wrote:

I've read that genetically Jews are more similar to Italians than any other group. Because we originally come from the Mediterranean area.

And we're dark and hairy hehe

blessedflower

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 7:59 am

I do and dont mind. I'm also not embarrassed about it.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 8:15 am

My mom was a sign language interpreter and teacher, so I grew up with a lot of hand waving in the house.

I don't really sign, but I'm pretty good at charades. I even talk with my hands when I'm on the phone, like the other person can really see what I'm trying to say.

Hooray

Finally, a use for all these emoticons!

zaq

Wed, Nov 06 2019, 8:27 am

I don’t mind gestures that emphasize, clarify or dramatize, such as clutching one’s head to express a sense of being besieged or a cranking motion to say “speed it up”. I mind meaningless hand talking, like flipping one’s hands back and forth or banging the edge of one hand on the palm of the other in time to the tempo of one’s words. These effusions of nervous energy lend no added meaning and are just visual noise.

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