Full transcript
0:00this recording is from the british
0:02council
0:08earlier on in today's lecture i
0:10mentioned the importance of hand
0:12gestures
0:12and said that i'd touch on some of these
0:16pardon the pun hand gestures are of
0:18course
0:19often culturally bound and can vary from
0:22group to group
0:23but there are a few of them which if not
0:25universal
0:26are very common indeed around the world
0:29i'd like to focus on the history of four
0:31gestures
0:32in particular the salute the thumbs up
0:35the high five and the handshake
0:38the salute uh gesture most associated
0:41with the military
0:42may have originated in the 18th century
0:45the grenadier guards one of the oldest
0:47regiments of the british army
0:49used helmets in the form of cones
0:52these were held in place by chin straps
0:55it was difficult to raise your helmet
0:57when greeting someone
0:58so the soldiers simply touch their head
1:00with one short movement of the hand
1:02before quickly putting it back down
1:04again at their side
1:08the thumbs up gesture apparently goes
1:10back a lot
1:11further it's widely believed that this
1:14gesture goes back to roman times
1:16when gladiators fought in front of the
1:18emperor and eager crowds in the coliseum
1:22the fallen gladiators fate was decided
1:25by the audience
1:27if they felt he had fought well they
1:29showed their approval with a thumbs up
1:31gesture
1:32the emperor would then confirm this and
1:35thereby
1:36would spare the gladiator's life if the
1:38crowd gave a thumbs down
1:41on the other hand that meant execution
1:45however there are no reliable historical
1:48references to thumbs going either up or
1:50down in the coliseum
1:52it may be that if the crowd wanted to
1:54spare the gladiator's life
1:56then they would actually cover up their
1:58thumb and keep it hidden
2:00they would only extend their hand and
2:03thumb
2:03if they wanted the gladiator killed this
2:06actually makes more sense as the emperor
2:09could much more easily see what the
2:11crowd was indicating
2:12when looking out over a huge arena
2:16the high five hand gesture is almost
2:19universally used as a greeting or
2:22celebration
2:23many see its origins in baseball two u.s
2:27teams lay claim to inventing the high
2:29five
2:30the los angeles dodgers in 1977
2:33or the louisville cardinals in 1978
2:37it's quite likely that it was neither
2:40and the gesture might have a much
2:42earlier origin again it is very similar
2:46to a 1920s jazz age gesture
2:49known as the low five or giving skin
2:53this gesture involved people slapping
2:55each other's lower hands
2:57also in celebration there are in fact
3:00numerous references to the low five in
3:02films
3:03of the era perhaps the high five is just
3:06an evolution of that gesture
3:10the final gesture i'm going to mention
3:12today is
3:13the handshake it dates back as a
3:15greeting
3:16at least as far as ancient greece
3:19in the acropolis museum in athens the
3:22base of one of the columns
3:24shows goddess hera shaking hands with
3:27athena
3:28the goddess of wisdom and courage it's
3:31thought that shaking hands
3:32rather than bowing or curtsying showed
3:35both parties as
3:36equals in 17th century marriage
3:39portraits in europe
3:41we find many examples of handshakes
3:43between
3:44husband and wife now of course the
3:47handshake has a multitude of uses
3:50meeting greeting parting offering
3:53congratulations
3:54expressing gratitude or completing an
3:57agreement
3:58in sports or other competitive
4:00activities
4:01it is also done as a sign of good
4:04sportsmanship
4:05in this way the gesture has not strayed
4:08from its original meaning
4:09to convey trust respect and equality
4:19this recording is from the british
4:21council to find more activities to
4:23practice your english
4:24visit www.britishcouncil.org forward
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