Bang!Zoom! Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 On a scale of 1-10 (1 being rarely, 10 being very animated) - where do you score yourself? I'm pretty sure I'm a ten. "Listening" to the kid, I'm pretty sure she's a 10 also. I noticed today that she draws stuff in the air quite a bit, I'm guilty as well. Do you have a reaction or opinion on really animated "hand talkers" with lots of body language? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm Italian. 'Nuff said. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I am a 6 or 7 by nature but have disciplined myself into being a 2 or 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm married to a guy who is a -1 in this area. Interesting. We are total opposites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I never used to, but I started a few years ago. I see people looking at my hands with troubled looks on their faces. I have no idea how to quit doing it, or why I started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm Italian. 'Nuff said. :D This is exactly what I was going to say :). Dh is not Italian. Before we were married I never noticed that I talk with my hands because everyone in my family does it. Early in our marriage dh taking it as a personal affront. Needless to say he's had to get over it because it's not something that's going to change. Dd is just like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It is called gesticulation. I am a pro, she says, waving her hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 My Dad had a movie he filmed of my Mom at a party. It's shot from the shoulders down, just to show how much talking she did with her hands. She's French, not Italian, so it might be a whole Mediterranean thing. :D Myself, I'm probably a 6 - 7. Luckily, as I progressed in my career, I ended up working for a company that honed presentation skills. They let me use my hands as much as I wanted, just helped me craft more pointed messages with the gestures occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 LOL. We sign. My big kids were at the store awhile back and this man taps my son on the shoulder pointing out that another register opened. My son turned and said, "Thank you," on his way over to the register. The poor man was so confused. (My daughter and I are losing our hearing and have an interest in ASL. We stink at it; but I guess the average person wouldn't know that). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwin Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 LOL my husband appears to be pinching stuff out of the air and shaking at me when he talks. And he unknowingly does jazz hands when he's making a point. The funniest thing ever was when he said, "Do you ever notice how [different ethnicity] talk with their hands?" while talking with his hands. He's a 9. I do not talk with my hands, unless it's completely intentional and I'm being silly. So I guess I'd put myself at 1-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemykids Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Yes! A little too much at times... When I notice people following my hand movements instead of looking me in the eyes, I know it's time to tone it down a bit. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 I wonder if we learn this or are born this way. Thinking about my parents, my dad wasn't, but my mother was. I think I have one sister who's worse off than I am, she's probably an 11, one brother who is such a 1 that it doesn't even register.... But say..if I were doing banking, and my teller was all hands in the air, I'd be annoyed and double checking her. Cashier at Walmart...not so much...so maybe it has to do with occupation a bit too. Don't know where it comes from... I'm okay with being all Jackie Chan with gestures, it helps me to get my point across and avoid misunderstandings/or a deeper understanding I guess. Not sure what I'm after when I do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 As a child and teen, I "talked" with my hands a great deal. Probably this was direct influence of the population group where I lived, as I spent most of my social time among them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommybee Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm Italian. 'Nuff said. :D Yep, except I'm Puerto Rican. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PachiSusan Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm married to an Italian and I have been assimilated. :w00t: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Maybe a 0.5? If I have to describe a spiral staircase, maybe. Or a goatee. Otherwise, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Absolutely. I used be around a 9 or a 10, but I've schooled myself down to about a 7 or 8. When I was a kid, I was talking one day and my dad reached over and grabbed both my hands to hold them still. I immediately stopped talking. Of course it could have been because I was wondering what the heck he was doing, but the minute he let my hands go, I started talking again. I like to use my hands when I talk! :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Talking with my hands gets me in trouble! I used to use my hands a lot more, but I started being more aware of it at 11 when I gave my best friend a bloody nose! He walked up behind me while I was chatting with the yard duty teacher and POW! I got him right in the schnoz! :tongue_smilie: Unfortunately his other "best friend" (yeah, right) was the class bully who decided to have his thugs beat me up over it. Apparently only he was allowed to beat up Keith and I was stepping on his territory. Fortunately I escaped unscathed by hugging my knees and making myself a dead weight when they decided to throw me on the blacktop. They could only get me a few inches off the ground and I landed on my feet and was unhurt. My mom did the same thing to one of her 8th grade students. He left the classroom to go to the restroom while she was lecturing with her back to the door. He walked into her blast zone and had to head back to the bathroom to stop the bleeding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Yes and I am totally unrepentant. I have no desire to change it. It doesn't seem to be an issue. I do not wildly gesticulate or anything. I guess I would be an 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 LOL. We sign. Yup. Here too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm about a 4. I'm from German/Irish/Swedish stock - much more "manually reserved". :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I do, probably a 6 or 7. I don't like it, and always feel kind of silly each time I realize I'm doing it. I notice that a couple of my daughters do it now, too. Funny how something like that can be passed on to your kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrdinaryTime Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 10 I flipped a glass of wine right out of my Mom's hand while talking to her this year. Sadly, the whole thing was caught on video so I can't deny it. Of course, it was half her fault because she was gesturing with her hands, too. Because we were, of course, both talking at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Probably zero unless we are pointing to something, we tend to speak podium style I guess. Older tends to have his hand behind his back as he talk while younger is usually holding a book or something as he talks. We don't mind other people using hand gestures while they talk. My boys get entertained though and sometimes try to mirror the hand gestures (and we have to try hard not to laugh as we don't think it is good manners for them to do so). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm at least an 8. We've been watching old Star Trek Next Generation & Voyager episodes recently. Not a single one of the crew uses their hands to talk. Ever. Another reason Star Trek is Science Fiction. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yep. I used to always have a baby in my arms so it wasn't so noticeable, but now they are too big for me to hide behind. When I'm out in public, I always try to have something fairly heavy in my hands to keep them from flying around whilst speaking. It's totally uncontrollable. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm up there...... and on dad's side, Mediterranean descent. I've accidentally hit people while talking. Including the kids when they were short.... When the hands start going, stand back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm terrible. I accidentally hit people sometimes. I'm fairly energetic AND visual, so the gestures just make sense to me. I once annoyed a preschooler who knew sign language. Her grandmother was deaf, so her whole family used sign language. I noticed her watching me 'talk' and she had this disgusted look on her face. We don't know what she was thinking, but she was clearly put out by my "gibberish." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 On a scale of 1-10 (1 being rarely, 10 being very animated) - where do you score yourself? I'm pretty sure I'm a ten. "Listening" to the kid, I'm pretty sure she's a 10 also. I noticed today that she draws stuff in the air quite a bit, I'm guilty as well. Do you have a reaction or opinion on really animated "hand talkers" with lots of body language? Yes, about a three. My husband would be a 10 and has knocked people before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeneralMom Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 7 Apparently i was a 10 when I taught Uni classes because it was mentioned a lot in my evals...never in a negative way but more like "you can always tell how important something is by how animated her usual gesticulating gets." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yes, I do. Somewhere on the high end but I am originally 100% Polish so no Mediterranean for at leas several generations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aspasia Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm Italian. 'Nuff said. :D Exactly what I was going to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Oh, yeah. All the time. Dd mocks me when I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I talk a lot with my hands and dh says I even make up sounds sometimes to go along with some of the movements/words I'm trying to describe. Fortunately for me, he actually thinks it's cute. Younger dd has followed in my footsteps, and I think it's cute too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I do talk with my hands. Not sure where I got it from, my mom is German and my dad is French. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Probably a 10. We sign. :) Well, *I* sign quite often. DD has stopped signing as much as she used to. I need to get her back into it. DH has never taken to it as much though he always says he wants to. I slacked off for a while which is probably why DD did, but with the birth of DD2, I started up again because I want her to learn. DD1 still understands me, but her expressive has regressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Probably a 1. I find it amusing when I see people do it. Another reason we should probably get together. My hand gestures might save the day. :laugh: (I always say if people don't think I'm funny, they find me quite intolerable). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm Italian. 'Nuff said. :D Me too. :) I have been known to knock things over while talking. Fortunately I've never hit anyone or knocked something out of their hands. I have however, accidentally let go of what I was holding and sent it flying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I am probably an 8 most of the time. Definitely a 10 if I am super excited/angry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I took a public speaking class in college in which the TA led of her critique with the question, "Are you Italian?" She said my hand gestures were so fascinating she had trouble concentrating on what I was saying. Sometimes the kids are terrified if I get really wound up while driving, since both hands leave the steering wheel. I do the made-up sounds, too. But I'd only rate myself about a 7 or 8, because I know I could be much, much more animated with little effort. THIS IS THE CALM VERSION, FOLKS. BE AFRAID. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Me too. :) I have been known to knock things over while talking. Fortunately I've never hit anyone or knocked something out of their hands. I have however, accidentally let go of what I was holding and sent it flying. Quoting myself rather than edit: I am not at all considered unusual among my mother's side of the family. It's only people outside the family who notice and/or comment on my need to talk with my hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 Yes and I am totally unrepentant. I have no desire to change it. Neither am I, and I have no desire to change either. It's part of me and of the culture I grew up in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFaerie Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I used to be about a 9, but I've calmed down in my old age. Funny story: In high school, I had a drama coach that made us do an exercise regarding talking with our hands. We had to sit on our hands on a stool up on the stage and give directions to our house. No hands allowed. Needless to say, there was a LOT of flying elbows, shoulders shakin' and pointing with my nose. :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 On a scale of 1-10 (1 being rarely, 10 being very animated) - where do you score yourself? I'm pretty sure I'm a ten. "Listening" to the kid, I'm pretty sure she's a 10 also. I noticed today that she draws stuff in the air quite a bit, I'm guilty as well. Do you have a reaction or opinion on really animated "hand talkers" with lots of body language? Maybe a 3 or 4. I find it REALLY ANNOYING AND DISTRACTING when people do this. Talk to me with WORDS. I don't need your gestures and they only distract me from your point (I want to say and sometimes do say to my husband). Even SNL makes fun of this when politicians do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm at least an 8. We've been watching old Star Trek Next Generation & Voyager episodes recently. Not a single one of the crew uses their hands to talk. Ever. Another reason Star Trek is Science Fiction. :) NO! Star Trek characters are normal people. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 10. I also type with my hands, and walk with my feet. I am always moving something while doing anything, even if it is my toes inside of my shoes, clench certain muscles, or rub my tongue around in my mouth (i.e. things I need to do when I can't move anything for whatever reason). I am a total spazz. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFaerie Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 10. I also type with my hands, and walk with my feet. I am always moving something while doing anything, even if it is my toes inside of my shoes, clench certain muscles, or rub my tongue around in my mouth (i.e. things I need to do when I can't move anything for whatever reason). I am a total spazz. :D No you're not. I am never completely still, either. Not even when I'm sleeping. Even now, I'm camped on the couch with the laptop typing, and I'm still wiggling my toes inside my slippers, tapping those tootsies to music only I can hear. You're in good company! hehehe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm enjoying this thread. :) Now here's the real question for those of you who talk with your hands: do you gesticulate at the screen while replying to posts? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFaerie Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 I'm enjoying this thread. :) Now here's the real question for those of you who talk with your hands: do you gesticulate at the screen while replying to posts? :D Does sticking my tongue out count? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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