TWEETING FINGERS – How to do the ‘hashtag’ with your fingers?

The Guardian, Aug 1 – People have started speaking with hashtags. Not often, and not, in most cases, people anyone really likes, but people nonetheless. And the problem – beyond the fact that this is happening at all – is that no one seems to be quite sure how to say, for example, #spokenhashtag.

Abruptly inserting the word “hashtag” mid-sentence just won’t do. It’s far too clunky, like having to shout out “inverted commas!” before and after a suspect sentence, instead of forming a pair of air-quote bunny rabbits.

An “air hashtag” also looks tricky: attempting to draw out the # symbol with a finger takes four time-consuming strokes, and makes you look as if you’ve paused mid-thought to bust out a hand-jive to the imaginary music in your head.

Trying it with two fingers and two quick strokes – one horizontal and one vertical – just looks like an effete mimed raptor attack, while going all-out with two slashes of both hands risks being mistaken for a bizarre attempt at semaphore without flags.

They would all also require you to say “hashtag” while doing them anyway. At least at first, until people caught on.

No, we need standardisation. We need – drumroll please – a hashtag tone of voice. Sarcasm, after all, has one. Why not the humble hashtag? It’s the new gesture-language, and it appears a matter of time before you’ll tweeting fingers everywhere!

HAND SIGNALS – The body language of Night Club owner Sherman Billingsley (1944)

HAND SIGNAL 1:

“Get them a bottle of perfume.”

A classic story about ‘hand gestures‘ came from the formerly famous The Stork Club (1929-1965) in New York City, which became known as a famous Manhattan night club that was founded by Sherman Billingsley. The New York City hot spot — which was located on 53rd Street near Fifth Avenue — was a destination for celebrities, artists, writers and wealthy people in general. You might remember The Stork Club from an appearance in the second season of Mad Men when Don and Betty infamously attended a party hosted by Jimmy Barrett.

LIFE presents an interesting series of images of Mr. Billingsley’s body language demonstrating his own brand of nightclub-code via hand gestures [8 images].

HAND SIGNAL 2:

“Call me to the phone, I want to get away from this table.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 3:

“Get them out & don’t let them in again.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 4:

“No check for this table. I got it.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 5:

“Not important people,” or, “No need to pay attention to these folks.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 6:

“Bring a bottle of champagne.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 7:

“Bring a round of drinks.”

 

HAND SIGNAL 8:

“The music in the main dining room is too loud.”

 

MORE HAND GESTURES NEWS

Susan Goldin-Meadow: ‘Your hands may reveal your thoughts!’

Language researchers say: people should not only listen to words, one should also have an eye for gestures. But what does this really mean? Take a look at somebody who is making a call. Although, the person on the other side of the line can not see the hands of the speaker, the hands are moving involuntarily and the head nods sometimes along with the words. That is, explains Susan Goldin-Meadow, because voice and gestures relate to one system. HANDS OF CHILDREN Goldin-Meadow discovered that both of communication tools – voice and gesture – initially develop separately. Baby’s show babbling and fluttering hands, but sound and gesture are not synchrone yet. Synchronicity doesn’t occure untill about eighteen months, when children start using two word phrases. So at the moment when their use of language is getting more complicated, children start using gestures of support. Goldin-Meadow also found that deaf children develop hand gestures spontaneously, even if these hand gestures were not offered by adults. HANDS OF ADULTS People should not only listen to words, they should also have an eye for gestures. A hand gesture can represent a word which the speaker may not even think – a circle-motion with the fingers may be used for the word ‘spiral staircase’ – but might also relate to a reflection in full swing. “Hands help us think,” says Goldin-Meadow. In this sense, gestures can play an important role in learning. Professor Susan Goldin-Meadow (psychologist) says: “Hands can reveal our thoughts. People express with their hands, what words can not say.” Dutch source: Handen verraden gedachten [Hands unveil thoughts]