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  • Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you

  • all about how we use our hands in English.

  • So there are many ways we use our hands in English. I'm going to

  • teach you a lot of different ways we use them. A lot of students get very confused with this,

  • because the way we use our hands varies from culture to culture, so what we do in Canada

  • and England and the U.S. might be very different than with what you do in your country. Okay?

  • So pay close attention to these differences.

  • So to start with, let's look at: "knock on wood".

  • If you're living in an English-speaking country,

  • you may have noticed sometimes people have a wooden object or a desk, a table, something

  • made of wood, and they knock on it.

  • Okay? You might wonder: "What does this mean, knock on wood?"

  • In English tradition, if you say something good, for example:

  • "I did very, very well on my test. I killed my test. I did amazing on my test",

  • you might knock on wood to make sure that you don't jinx it. Okay?

  • I'll give you another example.

  • Imagine if I want to go on a picnic, and I'm a little afraid about rain, I might say:

  • "Oh, you know, today's supposed to be a very sunny day. Knock on wood."

  • I'm knocking on wood to prevent rain. Okay? So it's a superstition

  • we do in order to kind of protect ourselves from the

  • opposite happening. Okay? One last example:

  • -"How did your interview go? How did your job interview go?"

  • -"Oh, it went well." [Knocks] Okay,

  • so that's why we knock on wood, it's a superstition.

  • All right, let's look at some of these other ones. "Quotes".

  • A lot of students have asked me: "What does this mean?"

  • Okay? So, for example, somebody might say:

  • "Yeah, she's beautiful."

  • Or: "He's really smart."

  • This kind of has a sarcastic tone to it. It means somebody

  • has said somebody is beautiful, but you don't believe it. Or somebody has said somebody

  • is smart, but you don't believe it. So if you hear someone saying something, and you're,

  • you know, pretty much using their words but you don't believe it, you can do quotes. Okay?

  • Another example: "Yeah that movie was awesome."

  • Okay? So it means you don't believe it.

  • English is fun. Your teachers might tell you English is fun.

  • When you're talking to your friends,

  • you might say: "English is fun", if you don't believe it.

  • All right, the next one: "crazy". All right? In English, if we think someone is crazy,

  • we go...

  • Okay?

  • So, for example: "That guy, he's very..." [Clicks tongue]

  • It means he's very crazy. Okay?

  • "Fingers crossed". A lot of the times in English, we take our fingers and we cross them, and

  • we go like this. This means we're hoping something happens. Okay? So, for example:

  • I hope you like this video, fingers crossed.

  • Or: I hope I did well on the test, fingers crossed. Okay?

  • So this means you hope something is happening.

  • Now, this is a little different from if you take your finger and you put it behind your back.

  • If you take your finger... Your fingers crossed and you put it behind your back,

  • it means you're telling a lie. So, for example:

  • "Oh, I loved the movie you made. The movie you made was incredible."

  • If my fingers are behind my back, it means I'm lying to you.

  • "I never talk to that guy."

  • Okay? Fingers behind my back, it means I'm lying. Okay?

  • Now, this one you might know, I think it's a very common one:

  • "OK". It can also mean:

  • "nice work" or "A-OK". So that means something has gone well.

  • We have this one which is a very rude one. This, which means...

  • And sorry, I'm not doing this to you; I'm just teaching it.

  • This means "up yours", which pretty much in English means

  • "fuck you". Okay? So if you ever see somebody going like that, it's not polite.

  • It means up yours or fuck you.

  • Oh, we have one... Two more. "Peace sign". Okay, when we're talking about peace in English,

  • we often go: "Peace."

  • So this is against war. In the 1960s, there were people called Hippies,

  • they were always going: "Peace." This is very different than the V sign, this.

  • Peace is like this, the V sign is like this. The V sign is something that is almost the same

  • as this. In England, in Australia, in New Zealand, if you do this to somebody, you're

  • pretty much telling them: "Fuck you." Okay? So be careful. "Peace", versus "Fuck you."

  • Finally: "money". Okay?

  • In English, when we're talking about money, we often go like this.

  • So, for example: "Do you have money? I need some money?"

  • Okay? So we just take our fingers

  • and we just rub them together.

  • Okay, we have this, devil's horns, also known as "rock on".

  • So whenever you go... If you like music, a lot of the times if you go to a rock concert, you go like this, you do this

  • when you like the music. Okay? And it means "rock on". So this one has to do with music.

  • Okay, "come here". In Western culture, when we want somebody to come, we go...

  • This is different than in other cultures. Some cultures, it's like this.

  • We don't do that in Western culture. Our hand is up, and we... We call forward.

  • If we want someone to hurry, we might go...

  • Okay? So we use that to say: "Come here."

  • We also have... This is sometimes almost like

  • a negative "come here", like you're in trouble, if I go, I take my fingers,

  • I have just the one up and I go...

  • It means: "Come here", but usually parents will do this or maybe

  • your boss, and sometimes... Well, it often means you're in trouble or there's a problem.

  • Okay?

  • Okay, "me". Now, in different cultures, we point to different areas of our self when

  • we're talking about ourselves. In Western culture, we point to our chest.

  • Me. In some cultures, people point to their noses. Me.

  • In Western culture, we don't do that; we point to our chest. Me.

  • Okay? We also have:

  • "I don't know",

  • or "I don't understand", or "I don't care."

  • Okay? So I shrug can mean "I don't know/I don't care."

  • "Please/I beg you".

  • If you want somebody to do something, you can put your hands together,

  • like this, and say: "Please, please, please. I beg you. Please keep practicing English.

  • Please keep watching engVid." Okay?

  • So that's something we can do to mean "please"

  • or "I beg you", which is pretty much the same thing.

  • Okay, this one: "shoot me now". Shoot is what you do with a gun,

  • so we take our gun, and

  • we just pretend to... [Shooting noise].

  • Okay? Shoot me now. We often do this when we're

  • bored. Okay? So if you're watching a very boring... If you have a very boring class,

  • or somebody is... You're watching something very boring, you might say: [Shooting noise],

  • which means: "Please kill me. Shoot me now." Or if something is really terrible, like maybe

  • you did really bad on an assignment: "Ah, please shoot me now."

  • Finally we have:

  • "call me". Okay? This means:

  • "Call my cellphone or call my telephone."

  • Okay? So now let's look at some more expressions we use with our hands, some more gestures,

  • and what they mean in English.

  • Okay, so the next expression I want to teach you with your hands is:

  • "It went over my head."

  • Okay? So it's when you go: "Whoo".

  • What this means is that something is so difficult, and

  • complex, and confusing, you don't understand.

  • So, for example, when I think about math,

  • whoo,

  • it means math is very difficult; I don't understand it. Or if I think about, you know,

  • certain science principles, maybe, you know, I might not understand them, so

  • it goes over my head. It means I don't understand because it's too difficult.

  • I hope you don't do this,

  • but some of you might think about English,

  • whoo. Okay?

  • Or English grammar, and that means

  • it's so difficult it went over my head.

  • Okay, we also have "thumbs up".

  • You do this if something is good.

  • In some cultures, I think it might mean something different,

  • but in Western culture, this means good.

  • We also have "thumbs down", which means bad. Okay? So:

  • "How was your presentation?"

  • It means-okay-"It was terrible."

  • Okay? We have:

  • Shh. "Be quiet." Shh.

  • We also have: "What?" This means the opposite; it means

  • "speak louder".

  • Okay? "I can't hear you, please speak louder."

  • Okay, the next one: You're dead, is when you take your finger and you go: "Kee".

  • Okay? So if you want to tell somebody they're dead: "Kee". Okay.

  • We also have another threat. If somebody makes you really angry... Well, I'm not saying to

  • do this, but if you see someone go like this, shaking their fist, and they have a very angry

  • face, like... It means:

  • "I'll get you", or it can also mean, like, you know, "Fuck you."

  • Okay? And it's done high up.

  • Okay. Now, one thing we do in English, this, can mean two things. If you see the police officer

  • and they have their gun out, and you go: "Whoa!" This can mean: "Don't shoot."

  • Okay? "Don't shoot your gun."

  • It can also mean: "Relax." Okay? "Calm down." So, if somebody

  • is very angry at you, if somebody's yelling at you, they're very angry: "Whoa!" Okay?

  • It means: "Whoa, calm down" or "relax".

  • Okay, this is an important one. It means "let's drink".

  • Okay? So I might say to somebody:

  • "Hey, today, let's get beer or let's drink."

  • If you point to somebody, though, and if you go:

  • "That guy", [clicks tongue],

  • depending on how you do your face, it can also mean

  • that person drinks too much. So when you go like this, it usually has to do with alcohol.

  • It can mean either: "Yeah, let's drink." or

  • "That guy, he drinks too much; he's an alcoholic."

  • Okay? Next, we have the word "hitch-hike".

  • Hitch-hike is when you need to get somewhere, so you

  • put your thumb out and you're on the road, and hopefully if you do this, a car will come

  • and pick you up. So it's a way to travel. When you don't have transportation, you can

  • put your thumb out if there's a road, and somebody in a car may pick you up. That's

  • called hitch-hiking. Okay? So in some cultures something like this is rude; in English if

  • you're walking on the street and you do this, it means: "Please pick me up in your car."

  • Okay, this one is also a very, very important one. If you go to a restaurant and you want

  • to pay for your meal, sometimes the waitress or the server, they take a very long time

  • to come, so what you can do is you can make eye contact with your waiter or waitress,

  • and you can go...

  • Okay? So you pretend this is a pen, this is a paper, that means:

  • "Cheque, please." or "The bill, please."

  • So you don't even have to say anything; you can just look.

  • It means: "Please give me the bill."

  • Okay, if you want something done fast, we say: "Snap, snap."

  • Snap, snap means do it quickly, do it very fast. Okay?

  • You know, I finished my homework snap, snap. It means

  • I did it very quickly.

  • Or: "Get me a coffee." [Snaps fingers] Snap, snap.

  • "Get me a coffee very quickly."

  • Okay, we have this one: "go away".

  • Okay? So, you know, our... Our... The back of our hand,

  • and it pushes away.

  • Okay, this one you might see if you ever watch the Oscars or some sort of award ceremony,

  • maybe a baseball game or a hockey game, you might see somebody clasp their hands together,

  • so they put their hands together and they shake them, and they shake them. Okay?

  • This means: "Yay, we won." Okay? "We won the award."

  • or "Yay, I won the game. We won the hockey game."

  • So this is kind of victory or, you know: "We won, we won."

  • Okay, the next one: "blah, blah". In English, "blah, blah" means...

  • Well, it doesn't really mean anything. We use it when someone is talking too much,

  • and we say: "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Okay?

  • So it just means a person is talking too much. So we might take our hand

  • and go: "Blah, blah, blah, blah", and it means, you know, this is what this person sounds

  • like, blah, blah. It means they're talking too much,

  • and we don't really care what they're saying.

  • This: "loser". A loser is someone who is not cool. Okay?

  • So a loser is somebody who is not cool.

  • In the 90s, although some people do this, but really in the 1990s, if you went

  • like this, it meant... So you make an "L" and you go like that. It meant you were insulting

  • somebody, it meant you were calling them a loser, or somebody who isn't successful and

  • who is stupid, pretty much. So if you go like that, it's an insult in English.

  • It's not so common anymore, but it was something that was very big in the 1990s.

  • Okay, finally: "anticipation".

  • Anticipation means we are excited for something. Okay?

  • So imagine Christmas is coming: "Oo, I can't wait."

  • Or, you know, the new Ironman movie is coming out:

  • "Oo, this is so exciting."

  • You know, I'm going to get to watch another engVid video:

  • "Oo, I can't wait."

  • So we use this to mean anticipation or excitement. We're

  • very excited for something, we can rub our hands together, like this.

  • Okay, the last one I want to teach you, this. It's from Star Trek,

  • and it means "live long and prosper".

  • So for anyone who's a Star Trek fan, this is a very big hand gesture a lot

  • of people do in English society and I guess worldwide, showing that they're a fan of the

  • TV show and the movie Star Trek.

  • So I hope you've enjoyed this video.

  • Again, we use our hands a lot to communicate.

  • They say that 80% of language is actually body language,

  • so it's really important to learn

  • the different things your hands can do and what they mean,

  • because in some cultures,

  • certain things might be offensive; but in other cultures, they're not.

  • Okay? So it's important to know what is offensive in English,

  • for example, this is offensive; versus:

  • What is something that is not offensive, like this?

  • This is totally fine to do in English. Okay?

  • So I invite you to come check out our website at www.engvid.com.

  • There, you can do a quiz

  • where you can practice what you've learned in this video, and make sure that you've actually

  • learned it and mastered it. Okay? I hope you've enjoyed this video,

  • and until next time, I'm excited to see you guys.

  • And I'll see you later. Take care.

Hello. My name is Emma, and in today's video, I am going to teach you

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