Misunderstood body language in Middle East?

Misunderstood body language in Middle East?

5/23/2017 7:53:09 AM

We in the Middle East follow international standards 🙂

Shaking head means no, nodding means yes, thumbs up means thumbs up, middle finger means the same as in the US, same as in the V sign.

That’s not the case for “crossing fingers”, which could be interpreted as v***na, but only when the context is about that.

Also, the “OK” sign means “I will kill you later”, not a literal kill, but more like I will deal with you later.

OK

However, we have some additions as well. For example, to tell someone to wait:

wait

same hand gestures can also mean “Wait, I will deal with you later”, used by parents to threaten kids when they do something nasty.

One important thing is raising feet or pointing them into people, this is considered a major insult. Just avoid raising your feet towards people (eg. resting it on a table while your foot is directed to people), for example:

feet

A live example was Obama’s visit to Turkey, when he without intention did something similar, then the Turkish prime minister did not like that gesture so he did the same.

Those are the most common differences, most of the rest are just fine. Middle easterners are fans of Hollywood in general and there will be nothing that won’t be understood here, or at least tolerated when it comes from a westerner or a foreigner in general.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts