Culture —– Hand Gestures Part III – The “Someone’s in Trouble” Gesture
It’s time for one last hand gesture in this series. This is my favorite gesture of all the Latin American hand gestures. Being an American and not from Latin America, it took me a while to perfect it, but it is fun and very expressive. As you can see by the title, I like to call this gesture the “Someone’s in Trouble” gesture, but it can also be used when you are in a hurry. I hope you’re here to learn Spanish and about the Latin American culture.
If you’d like to use this gesture, put your hand in a position that you make when you are going to snap (thumb touching middle finger and palm turned sideways). Now, make sure your index finger is loose and raise your hand about 8 inches or so. Then, throw your hand down fast while rotating it counterclockwise, and quickly raise it again. The movement is similar to cracking a whip. If you do it properly, your index finger will snap against your middle finger and make a noise. The noise let’s you know you’ve done the movement right; however, sometimes Latin people may make this gesture without a noise. This gesture is usually repeated three or four times.
If any of you (newsletter readers) have never seen this gesture or are able to figure it out by the instructions above, I will consider this week’s issue a success! Please let me know if you figure it out.
It’s fun to learn how to do this gesture, but learning how and when to do it is even more fun. For example, let’s say Javier is planning to invite his friends over to his house to watch a soccer game (Remember, in Latin America, they do not watch “football” games, they watch “soccer” games). Anyway, Javier’s mother tells him that he can only watch the game with his friends if he gets the house straightened up first. Since Javier’s mother is going to be gone for a while, he decides to invite his friends over anyway without cleaning the house. Suddenly, Javier’s mother gets home early, sees the house is a mess, and yells “Javier”!! Javier would probably then make the “Someone’s in Trouble” gesture and have a look on his face that says, “Oh no, I’m in trouble”. Some of his friends might also make the gesture with the same expression on their faces.
As I mentioned earlier, you can also use this gesture if you are late for something or in a hurry.
If you can’t seem to understand exactly how this gesture is made, I suggest watching a Spanish TV channel for an hour or two and chances are that you will probably see someone make it.
Moral of the Story: Learning this gesture gets you more immersed in the wonderful Latin American culture. Also, if you are prone to getting into trouble and plan to visit Latin America, this is an EXCELLENT gesture for you! If you work with Latin people, watch for this gesture and you may start noticing it more often.
If any of you have had experiences with this, I would love to hear from you.
Sneak peek at next week: Variations in Spanish in different countries – serious and humorous
¡Hasta la próxima semana! (Until Next Week!)
David S. Clark — President / Director
Click here to learn Spanish.
I was so excited to see this “Someone’s in Trouble” gesture/story because I have seen this done in northern Mexico. But the only ones I saw doing it were in their late twenties or younger. No one else seemed to see it or knew what I was talking about and looked at me crazy when I mentioned it. When I came back to the States and asked about it, still nothing. Then I started watching telenovelas (Spanish soap operas)and saw this done a few times in just such a context as mentioned in your story. I thought it added so much more to the display of anger or annoyance. But since I couldn’t find any information about this I just thought it was the actor’s own brand of gesturing. It’s good to know that I wasn’t seeing things and it’s a great cultural tip.
hey, listen, you’re not crazy! i am from st.lucia an island in the caribbean and even here we do this sign but it is done with vigorous exertion on the flick of the wrist that pronounces the snapping sound. But you are right when u say that it was mainly something done by younger folks as it is the same here. as teenages develop we tend to grow out the proctise of this hand movement and use verbal expressions even more!
Thanks for the tip about watching Spanish TV to see this. I have been wondering for years how to make this move and just now I was trying to do a google search on this gesture. VERY hard to find any info! Thanks for the lowdown.