Angry Traveler's Guide- NOT WORK SAFE

[Grant Lamontagne]

Someone posted this on Facebook, and I have seen it before and thought it was kind of amusing.  Seeing as how we have members from many of the countries shown here, I thought maybe I'd see if this was actually accurate.

Anyone have any to add? 

Def

[jerseydevil]

   Sadly I already knew and have used most of those.  I was taught that the Greek sign was done with both hands......

[sardauker]

in Italy we show the "horns", le corna, on the other way around.
http://www.cronachelaiche.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/corna.jpg

we understand brasilian "umbrella", and the middle finger, and we have different meanings for each of the other gestures.

[Sparky415]

In some country’s I could get in trouble just trying to signal the waiter 

[Carlos]

The "USA gesture" is also an offense here. The Brasil's one, here, is a kind of provocation but not really an offense. The Italy gesture means here "you have horns", "your wife cheated on you", but lately, by foreign influence, it has been associated with heavy metal bands.

Well... talking about this last one... this happened in our parliament a few years ago



they guy you see making the gesture was the then economy minister 

[Suveges]

Apparently I would get my ass kicked in both France and Thailand.

[captain spaulding]

Now I know why all those people in Thailand where looking at me funny.   

[Stazi]

in Italy we show the "horns", le corna, on the other way around.
http://www.cronachelaiche.it/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/corna.jpg

we understand brasilian "umbrella", and the middle finger, and we have different meanings for each of the other gestures.

My wife and I are traveling  to Italy next week on our holiday , and I know you love hand gestures  , so will remember that  . I use the thumbs up all the time here , so a holiday in Vietnam might get me into a lot of trouble .

[Grant Lamontagne]

There are a few of those gestures that I would probably get in trouble too.  For an old metal head like myself the horns are fairly common, although I suppose for mainstream society they may not be a positive thing. 

There's a couple others I knew and a few new ones to me too.

Def

[nuphoria]

So, must add "wear mittens" to my rules for being out of the country

[sardauker]

My wife and I are traveling  to Italy next week on our holiday , and I know you love hand gestures 

Just a few:




You really need to want to get in trouble, to be misunderstood.

(there was an old joke about an italian, tied -in war or by the police or thugs-, that, questioned and beated, didn't answer until "How can I tell you anything, with my hands tied?")

[magentus]

There are a few of those gestures that I would probably get in trouble too.  For an old metal head like myself the horns are fairly common, although I suppose for mainstream society they may not be a positive thing. 

There's a couple others I knew and a few new ones to me too.

Def

Why was Ronnie James Dio not chased out of Italy by angry hordes?

[sardauker]

There are a few of those gestures that I would probably get in trouble too.  For an old metal head like myself the horns are fairly common, although I suppose for mainstream society they may not be a positive thing. 

There's a couple others I knew and a few new ones to me too.

Def

Why was Ronnie James Dio not chased out of Italy by angry hordes?

Because of his name. Nobody dared. (translation pun intended).

[turnsouth]

I was taught that the Greek sign was done with both hands......

I think you may be correct, I dated a feisty Greek girl once, and she was always throwing up both her hands at me like that when we would fight.

[Carlos]

Why was Ronnie James Dio not chased out of Italy by angry hordes?

Because of his name. Nobody dared. (translation pun intended).

Would that be "dio" = "god" in italian? I thought that was in spanish... you guys have a strange way of talking 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think there are a lot of similarities between Spanish and Italian, both having developed from Latin.  Of course Sardauker may come along and correct me on that too! 

Def

[sardauker]

Yep, we usually joke about "It's easy to speak spanish, just add an 's' in the end of the words"
(I don't remember how to say god/dio in spanish )

I suppose the world does the same with "Its easya to speaka italiano"


returning to Latin... you english-speaking guys use it way latin words more than we do.
don't ask me why, maybe it's a matter than goes back to adrian wall... but I'm surprised each time i read un "et cetera" or "i.e."

[Carlos]

I was just playing around, spanish is much more closer to portuguese than any of these two with italian. But in this case it's Deus vs Dios vs Dio (pt - es - it), so there you have. As a portuguese speaker I'm able to understand (not talk, though, as most people wrongly think they can) about 80% or so of written spanish, but only half than that of written italian.

[sardauker]

Spain is in the middle in more than one way, it seems, because I can understand 80% of spanish and less of 50% of portuguese.