Are you still doing the V for victory sign? It’s out. The latest popular hand gesture (手势) is to curl (卷曲) both of your hands and put them together to make a heart-shape.

Known as “hand heart”, many young stars in the US including Justin Bieber, Blake Lively and Taylor Swift have done the move in recent photos.

“The heart-hand gesture means something between ‘I love you’ and ‘thank you’,” said the country singer Taylor Swift, 21. “It’s a sweet, simple message which you can send without saying a word.”

Tailor Swift often puts her hands above her head in the heart shape at her concerts. And she is believed to be the first to make the gesture popular.

Last month during a charity show, Justin Bieber and his superstar friends did the hand heart and put the photos online. They did it to help out three kids whose parents were killed in a car accident. The gesture became a real hit after that.

“It used to take longer for nonverbal (不用语言的) culture to move. But now, with smart phones and the Internet, it’s much faster,” said Patti Wood, an American language expert.

In the Republic of Korea, the hand heart has been popular for a long time, in a different way. People there like making a “bigger heart” by putting their hands above their heads and making a heart shape with their arms. It means: “I love you.”

Not only humans but also animals can use body language to communicate. But the things they say to each other are different. We always use body language in our daily communication. When we talk with each other, we may use body language. For example, in the USA, people point to his head when he think someone is clever. However, human beings are not the only ones who use body language. Animals also use body language and facial expressions to tell each other how they feel and what they think.

When a dog is happy, its ears will stand up and its eyes will be wide. When it is angry, it will look straight at you. If an elephant spreads its ears, it means Watch out! To show friendship, elephants will touch each other with their long noses. Dolphins live in groups and like to show each other their feelings. An angry dolphin will slap its tail on the water. A happy dolphin will play with its friends, making small jumps into the air.

We are always using body language in our daily life. When we have a talk with someone, we may be using more body language than words. However, the same body language may mean different things in different countries. That’s why people sometimes do not understand each other correctly.

Pointing to one part of the body can have different meanings in different cultures. For example, in the USA people point to their heads when they think someone is clever. However, in Europe it means “He or she is stupid or something is wrong with his or her head”. In our Chinese culture. nodding our head up and down means “yes” and shaking our head from side to side means: “no”. However, in some parts of India, Greece and Turkey, it means just the different thing. In England or the USA, when you raise your hand and make a circle with the thumb and the second finger, it means “Everything is all right”. However, if we do this in France or Belgium, it means “You’re worth zero”. In Greece or Turkey, we should not make this gesture. Or we are thought to be very rude.

The meaning of gestures can also change over time. In the 1960s, the “V” sign（符号） meant “peace”. However, during the World WarⅡ, it meant “victory”. In Greece, it is an insulting sign. It will be very rude of you to make this gesture in front of a woman.

Though the meaning of body language is different, there are some expressions having the same meaning throughout the world, such as smiling and crying.