In public places, people often use body language to express their meanings. Waving and bowing are examples of body language. Different kinds of body language show different cultures in different countries.

In China, waving means greeting, but in Japan bowing is used. Sometimes this kind of body language is polite in one country, but it is not polite in another. We should pay attention to using it. In China, nodding your head shows you agree with someone, but in India, shaking your head from side to side shows agreement. In China, people hold hands as a sign of friendship, but people seldom hold hands in North America.

It is worth noting that different meanings of body language can also cause problems in understanding. Some people do not understand how to use thumb (拇指) correctly. Most people often show one thumb to praise someone or something. You can’t raise your thumb when someone is in danger. In a basketball match, if the judge shows two thumbs, it means two players break the rules.

If someone says to you “give me five”, do not search your pocket to get five yuan! It will make others laugh! The person’s not asking for your money, but your fingers.

In the US, “give me five” or “give me the high five” is a popular gesture (动作). You can see it often in films or on TV. It means the slapping (拍) of each other’s raised (举起的) right hands together.

People do it when they meet for the first time or something happy happens. For example, a student has good marks in exams or wins a lottery ticket (彩票). If a football team wins a game, the players will give high five to everyone around to celebrate.

This gesture may come from the old Roman gesture of raising the right arm for the emperor (皇帝). This showed that the person raising his arm did not have a sword (刀) in his hand.

Why not try to give the high five to your friends?

We talked with June Galloway about her book Get off on the Right Foot: Don’t Let the Wrong Gesture (手势) Ruin Your Day.

English is an international language. But in your book, communication without words is paid more attention to. ▲

June：Well, gestures and other body languages have different meanings in different places. Something that you think is friendly or polite could be considered to be very impolite in another culture. I’ve described many of these customs and cultural differences, so my readers won’t get off on the wrong foot when they meet people from places where the culture is different from their own.

Can greeting someone the wrong way really lead to misunderstanding?

June：In some places, yes. The heavy handshake that a North American expects may seem quite impolite in other places. And a light handshake—which is usual in some countries—may seem unfriendly to a North American.

What other gestures can cause misunderstanding?

June：Take the gesture for “Come here” for example. In North America, people gesture with the palm(掌心) up. Well, in southern Europe, that gesture means “goodbye”. And in many Asian countries, the palm-up gesture is thought rude. Instead, people there gesture with the palm down.

Surely, there must be some gestures used everywhere, right? What about the thumb-up(翘拇指)gesture for “great”?

June：Sorry. That’s very rude in Australia and the Middle East. That is why it’s important to know about body language and cultural differences.

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