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Related to that, the whole physical signalling stuff is quite a mess.

For example there are cultures were waving your head up and down back and forth does not mean “Yes”, it means “No”.

I found this kind of stuff out when I moved from my homeland, Portugal, to The Netherlands: it turns out the signal for “he/she is crazy” in Portugal is the same as the signal for “he/she is intelligent” in The Netherlands.

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boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
“he/she is intelligent” in Estonia would be making circles toward your temple with your index finger. What’s the gesture in Portugal?

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- Aceticon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  Is that but on the side of the head. It can also be tapping on the side of the head.
  
  The Dutch gesture for intelligent is touching the side of the head with the index finger, which can be confused with the second version of the Portuguese one for crazy.
  
  Mind you, I just realized I’m not sure about those things anymore (I lived for over 2 decades abroad) and had to google to make sure.
  
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  - boonhet@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    The temple is on the side of the head I thought :) So you have the same gesture as we do I’d think.
    
    Basically it’s usually aimed at the part of your head where your chewing muscles are.
    
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