18 Gestures That Can Cause Offense Around the World

Sophie ForbesMarch 24, 2015

One of the main problems travelers face is communicating with the locals. Even if you never leave home without your trusty phrase book, communication is as much about nonverbal cues as it is about talking.

In fact, people rely more heavily on hand gestures and body language when in situations where they are unable to verbally interact with someone.

But did you know that not all hand gestures mean the same thing in every country? In some places, gestures that we use on a daily basis in the U.S. to portray positive emotion or agreement, for example, might mean something highly offensive in a foreign land.

Take the OK sign — the simple hand signal where you put your thumb and first finger together to create a circular shape. In the U.S. we use it to convey agreement and compliance. Yet it is seen as offensive in Greece, Spain, and Brazil. In those countries it means that you are calling someone an a**hole. In Turkey, that sign is also an insult toward gay people.

Related: How Not to Be a Bad American Abroad — Tips From a State Department Official

So aside from keeping your hands firmly in your pockets while you are traveling, what can you do to ensure that you don’t insult the locals or end up in a bar brawl? The last time I checked, there was no section in any of my phrasebooks for hand gestures.

1. The chin flick. Brushing the back of your hand underneath your chin in a flicking motion means “get lost” in Belgium, northern Italy, and Tunisia. In France, this gesture is known as la barbe (”the beard”) and is the hand-sign equivalent of macho grandstanding. 

 

You should probably just never do this. (Photo: Kyrylo Glivin/Alamy)

2. The fig. A clenched fist with your thumb between your first and second fingers means “screw you” (to put it mildly) in Turkey, Russia, and Indonesia. And in some countries it symbolizes lady parts. You know what I mean.

3. Forearm jerk. This is the action of punching your fist into your elbow joint while raising the other fist up in front of you. It will not get you a positive reaction in most parts of southern Europe or Brazil, and it’s used commonly by soccer fans wanting to send an offensive message to the fans of the opposing team.

Talk to the hand. (Photo: Tuan Tran/Moment/Getty Images)

4. The moutza. In Greece, Mexico, the Middle East, and Africa, the action of raising your open hand, palm out, with spread fingers in front of someone is a serious sign of displeasure. Possibly one of the oldest hand gestures still in use, it dates all the way back to ancient Byzantium, when criminals were chained to donkeys and paraded through the streets, where locals would rub their own feces onto the prisoner. 

Related: Surefire Ways to Spot an American on a Cruise

5. The cutis. Flicking your thumb from the back of your upper front teeth toward someone is seriously nasty in India and Pakistan and simply means “f*** you.” Very nice. This sign will likely get you ejected from any place of business and not welcomed back.

6. Five fathers. Arab and Caribbean countries see the action of pointing your right index finger and the grouped finger tips of your left hand as a way of saying, “you have five fathers.” Or, in harsher terms, “your mother is promiscuous.” So if you want to get deported in the Middle East, this is your go-to.

There are also several gestures that we use on a daily basis in the U.S., almost as a reflex, that mean something completely different elsewhere.

You may want to rethink how you convey the word “no.” (Photo: Elijas van Roon/Corbis)

7.  Head shake. Most people assume that nodding your head is the universal sign for “yes” and shaking your head is the sign for “no.” But in Greece and Bulgaria, these actions are reversed. This can lead to some serious confusion if you are being hit on or trying to order food off a menu. 

Related: The Craziest and Rudest Things Ever Said to Flight Attendants

8. Crossing your fingers. In Vietnam, crossing your fingers, as we would in the U.S. to wish for luck, depicts a woman’s genitalia and is considered extremely insulting if aimed at another person. It is the hand-sign alternative of calling someone the c-word. 

Just never do this. (Photo: Thomas Nanos/Alamy)

9. Horns. The placement of your fingers to show horns, usually known as the symbol for “rock on,” has a different meaning in Spain, Greece, and Italy — where it is called the “corna” and is considered a suggestive gesture made to a man to imply that his wife is cheating on him. It dates back more than 2,500 years and signifies a bull’s horns. 

You may think you are being friendly. You are wrong. (Photo: Alejandro Moreno de Carlos/Stocksy)

10. Thumbs up. The thumbs-up sign does not mean “that’s great” in Australia as it does here. There, it means “up yours” or the painful-sounding “sit on it.” Basically, you are telling a person that you hope he gets something inserted up his bottom.

11. Come on over. In the Philippines, using your hand to make a “come here” gesture is one of the most offensive things you can do. In fact, this gesture is deemed so bad that you can actually get arrested for using it. We promise you that the last place you want to end up on your vacation is inside a Philippine prison.

Don’t be a jerk. (Photo: Aleksandra Kovac/Stocksy)

12. Crossed arms. Crossing your arms in front of you is considered a huge sign of arrogance in Finland. Standing with this posture in a bar is likely to get you into a fight.

Related: Pictures of the Rudest, Grossest Tourists in the Air

Some countries have their own unique gestures with specific meanings.

13. Fist shakes. In Austria, shaking two fists in front of you is a way of wishing someone good luck. 

In France, this means you are itching for a fight. (Photo: Mahdees Mahjoob/Alamy)

14. Slapping your fist. In France, slapping the palm of your hand over your other fist is seen as an aggressive gesture that suggests you want to beat up the person it’s aimed at. It is similar to telling someone to step outside.

15. Hand shakes. In Russia, shaking hands, or doing pretty much anything else, over a threshold is considered extremely unlucky. 

Do you have any idea why this could be considered offensive? (Photo: Wason Wanichakorn/AP Photo)

16. Three-fingered salute. In Thailand, the raised arm with three fingers extended (like the gesture used in The Hunger Games) was outlawed after it became a symbol of opposition to the country’s military coup in 2012. How very original.

Related: The Most Accidentally Offensive Things Americans Do While Traveling

Not all gestures are made with your hands:

17. Feet gestures. In India, one of the worst things you can do socially is to show a person the soles of your feet or use your feet to point to or touch things. Feet are seen as unclean and the lowest point of the body. Resist the urge to give yourself a pedicure in public, or you might be faced with some angry locals.

Popular Wines Contain High Levels Of Arsenic, Lawsuit Alleges

Amy RushlowSenior EditorMarch 19, 2015

Arsenic in wine? Say it isn’t so! (Photo: Steve Lupton/Corbis)

An inexpensive bottle of wine may seem like a bargain, but it may come at a cost to your health. A proposed class action lawsuit filed in California on Thursday claims that some popular wines have arsenic levels three to five times greater than the concentration allowed in drinking water, according to news reports.

The lawsuit involves more than two dozen California wine companies, including the popular brands Franzia, Sutter Home, Glen Ellen, and Beringer.

The Denver-based laboratory BeverageGrades first discovered the high arsenic levels. Tests of approximately 1,300 bottles of wine revealed that more than one-quarter of them had arsenic levels higher than the upper limit allowed in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Cheaper wines tended to have higher arsenic levels, BeverageGrades co-founder Kevin Hicks told CBS. Franzia White Grenache, for example, came in at five times the EPA’s limit for arsenic in tap water. Trader Joe’s popular Charles Shaw White Zinfandel had triple the limit. A spokesperson for Trader Joe’s told CBS that the company is “investigating the matter” and taking the concerns seriously.

The news about arsenic in wine is the latest in a series of recent headlines on arsenic contamination in common foods. Significant levels of inorganic arsenic, a known carcinogen, were detected in rice in 2012 and again late last year by Consumer Reports, as Yahoo Health reported. Apple juice has also been under scrutiny since a 2011 Consumer Reports study on arsenic in the juices was released. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a benchmark for the acceptable amount of arsenic in apple juice, but some expertsrecently criticized the move for not setting the limit low enough. 

Related: Scientists Find A Way To Remove Wine Hangovers

The EPA sets the maximum limit for arsenic in drinking water at 10 parts per billion. The highest level of arsenic found in the BeverageGrades tests was 50 parts per billion. The U.S. does not regulate arsenic levels in wine or other beverages besides drinking water.

To put that in perspective, consider that 50 parts per billion was the EPA’s standard for arsenic in drinking water before 2001. 

At 50 parts per billion, the lifetime risk of dying of cancer due to arsenic in drinking water — assuming that people drink two liters of tap water per day — is one in 100, according toan analysis by the National Resources Defense Council. For an arsenic level of 10 parts per billion (the current EPA limit), the risk is one in 500. The NRDC calculated the statistics using data from a 1999 study of U.S. tap water conducted by the National Academy of Sciences.

High levels of inorganic arsenic are known to cause several types of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society(ACS). A U.S. study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine also found that long-term exposure to low or moderate arsenic levels may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke. Recent European research also found that long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water may contribute to diabetes.

In California, businesses are required to alert consumers if a product contains “a chemical known to the state to cause cancer.” The lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior court, seeks unspecified damages and a court order requiring wineries to address the arsenic levels in their products. 

Microsoft Is Killing Off the Internet Explorer Brand

Tom Warren, The VergeMarch 17, 2015

While Microsoft has dropped hints that the Internet Explorer brand is going away, the software maker has now confirmed that it will use a new name for its upcoming browser successor, codenamed Project Spartan. Speaking at Microsoft Convergence yesterday, Microsoft’s marketing chief Chris Capossela revealed that the company is currently working on a new name and brand. “We’re now researching what the new brand, or the new name, for our browser should be in Windows 10,” said Capossela. “We’ll continue to have Internet Explorer, but we’ll also have a new browser called Project Spartan, which is codenamed Project Spartan. We have to name the thing.”

Internet Explorer will still exist in some versions of Windows 10 mainly for enterprise compatibility, but the new Project Spartan will be named separately and will be the primary way for Windows 10 users to access the web. Microsoft has tried, unsuccessfully, to shake off the negative image of Internet Explorer over the past several years with a series of amusing campaigns mocking Internet Explorer 6. The ads didn’t improve the situation, and Microsoft’s former Internet Explorer chief left the company in December, signalling a new era for the browser.

Capossela also detailed the power of using the Microsoft brand over just Windows or Internet Explorer, and showed off some research data on a new name for the company’s browser vs. Internet Explorer. Putting Microsoft in front of the new secret name increased the appeal to some Chrome users in the UK. “Just by putting the Microsoft name in front of it, the delta for Chrome users on appeal is incredibly high,” says Capossela.

Microsoft is clearly testing names with market research, but it’s unclear when the company plans to unveil the final name for its Internet Explorer successor. Judging by Microsoft’s own research, it’s obvious the company will move as far away from Internet Explorer as possible, and it’s likely Project Spartan will have the Microsoft name attached to it.

Elsewhere in Capossela’s talk, the Microsoft executive also discussed the ways the company will make money in future, and clever ways the company is making use of social media. Microsoft has started to use artists to respond to Twitter users with personalised images, and at least one from the Xbox team was successful at creating attention with an impressive 35,000 retweets. It’s all part of improving Microsoft’s brand perception, and a general admission from the company that it’s ready to be loved again.

The U.S. Is Not Ready for A Melting Arctic

America faces an Arctic dilemma.

by Clare Foran National Journal

Next month, the U.S. is set to take the helm of the Arctic Council, an international forum for the polar region. That event creates an opportunity for the administration to talk up its commitment to advancing U.S. interests in the Arctic, an expansive land and sea territory that contains vast untapped energy resources.

But the U.S. has essentially given the Arctic the cold shoulder. Lawmakers, federal officials, and experts warn that Arctic investment has not kept pace with rapid ice melt and caution that the U.S. must overcome a lack of funding and resources as it patrols the polar region.

As ice vanishes due to rapidly rising temperatures, the Arctic has seen an influx of activity. Major energy companies have plans to scour polar seas for oil and gas while commercial and passenger ships rush to transit newly-accessible routes. All that commotion ups the odds of spills and accidents, paving the way for a high-seas North Pole disaster.

© Provided by National Journal Exxon Rosneft Arctic

Yet Congress has hardly lifted a finger so far to foot the bill for infrastructure and technology that would better equip the U.S. to safeguard Arctic waters.

America's Arctic strategy has long been plagued by a lack of funding. Vast stretches of polar waters have not been charted or mapped to modern-day standards, and the U.S. Coast Guard has been forced to make do with a shrinking fleet of icebreakers, powerful ships that play a key role in search and rescue operations as well as Arctic exploration.

Admiral Robert Papp, the U.S. special representative for the Arctic, highlighted a wide array of technology that the U.S. lacks—from a robust fleet of icebreaking ships to improved navigational networks—while speaking at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week.

"There are plenty of needs that have already been identified. We just need to get around the business of setting some priorities and having the determination to start resourcing them," Papp said.

Coast Guard commanders echo that conviction and warn that a lack of icebreaking ships in particular could imperil search and rescue efforts. "In order for us to be relevant, to sustain mission effectiveness in the Arctic, I cannot make the claim that I am semper paratus[always ready] with the fleet I have at my disposal today," U.S. Admiral and Commandant of the Coast Guard Paul Zukunft said in an interview.

While the U.S. looks for a way to pay for additional ships, other Arctic nations are leaping ahead. The Coast Guard has only one icebreaker in operation that can navigate heavy ice. Russia, meanwhile, has made Arctic investment a top priority, and the Kremlin wields an icebreaker fleet that boasts dozens of high-powered ships.

Roughly 95 percent of the Arctic has not been mapped to modern standards, according tothe International Hydrographic Organization. Papp noted during last week's Senate hearing that some of the navigational tools that Arctic ships rely on date to the era of Captain James Cook, the 18th-century British navigator and cartographer.

Zukunft warned that out-of-date charts and maps could lead to "a scenario not unlike the Titanic sinking back in 1912."

A sharp uptick in ship traffic has significantly compounded the potential for accidents due to outdated navigational technology.

The Coast Guard is working to establish a shipping route through the Bering Strait, but so far no shipping lanes exist in U.S. Arctic waters, according to Marilyn Heiman, Pew's U.S. Arctic program director.

That could increase the risk of accidents. "It's like the Wild Wild West," Heiman said. "You can take your boat anywhere you want. It's a free-for-all."

The National Research Council concluded last year that the U.S. is not adequately prepared to quickly and safely respond to an Arctic oil spill.

Still, there are early indications that Congress may devote additional attention and resources to the Arctic.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine launched an Arctic caucus this month. Murkowski and King, along with Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the committee's ranking member, have all expressed concern that the U.S. has not placed a high enough priority on Arctic infrastructure and navigational technology. And Murkowski is starting to lay the groundwork for an Arctic infrastructure bill. On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat, has also pushed for increased Arctic investment. 

But some experts are skeptical that Congress will cough up the cash.

"We have a strategy for the Arctic but the real question is: Where is the money coming from?" said Dr. Lawson Brigham, a professor of geography and Arctic policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "It's not so easy to get funding for big-ticket items so who is going to pay for this: the public or the private sector?"

Microsoft reveals Windows vulnerable to FREAK SSL flaw

Summary:Redmond has said that the FREAK security flaw is found in versions of its Windows operating system from Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and higher.

 

By Chris Duckett | March 6, 2015 -- 03:12 GMT (19:12 PST)

 

The FREAK security bug that allows attackers to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) connections encrypted using an outmoded cipher has claimed another victim. This time, it is Microsoft's Secure Channel stack.

"Microsoft is aware of a security feature bypass vulnerability in Secure Channel (Schannel) that affects all supported releases of Microsoft Windows," the company said in a security advisory. "The vulnerability facilitates exploitation of the publicly disclosed FREAK technique, which is an industry-wide issue that is not specific to Windows operating systems."

Although Microsoft Research was part of the team to uncover FREAK alongside European cryptographers, Redmond chose not to reveal Windows as vulnerable until today.

 

"When this security advisory was originally released, Microsoft had not received any information to indicate that this issue had been publicly used to attack customers," the company said.

Microsoft said it is "actively working" with its Microsoft Active Protections Program partners to protect them, and once it has completed an investigation, it would "take the appropriate action to help protect customers".

"This may include providing a security update through our monthly release process or providing an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs," Microsoft said.

Affected versions of Windows include Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows RT.

Microsoft said users could disable the RSA key exchange ciphers that result in FREAK by changing the SSL Cipher Suite in the Group Policy Object Editor -- unless they are using Windows Server 2003, which does not allow for individual ciphers to be enabled and disabled.

"Windows servers are not impacted in the default configuration (export ciphers disabled)," the company said.

After claiming the software stacks that rely on Apple TLS/SSL and OpenSSL earlier in the week, companies have been scrambling to release patches for impacted systems.


At the time of writing, the list of affected web browsers on freakattack.com included Internet Explorer, Chrome on Android, the stock Android browser, Safari on Mac OS X and iOS, BlackBerry browser, and Opera on Mac OS X and Linux.

Users can test whether their web browser is affected at the FREAK Client Test Tool.

Topics: Security, Microsoft, Windows

About Chris Duckett

Chris started his journalistic adventure in 2006 as the Editor of Builder AU after originally joining CBS as a programmer. After a Canadian sojourn, he returned in 2011 as the Editor of TechRepublic Australia, and is now the Australian Editor of ZDNet.