It’s a Staten Island thing: Talking with your hands. Here’s a translation.
Updated Jan 26, 2021;
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Most of us are familiar with the “thumbs up,” or even crossing two fingers for good luck.
But the vast array of Italian hand gestures? That’s a horse or a different color.
"There's nothing really going on." (Courtesy/Casa Belvedere)
So, the Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere on Grymes Hill held a fun virtual program to demonstrate some of the more common hand gestures oftentimes used by Italian-Americans.
"Pay strict attention." (Courtesy/Casa Belvedere)
“Italians express themselves with dramatic flair,” said Beatrice Alecci, the foundation’s program director. And their hand gestures illustrate a wide range of expressions, everything from friendly to crude, she said. “If you ask an Italian to sit on their hands while speaking, it would likely be a very short experiment,” she added.