Growing up, I’ve been surrounded by Italian gestures, thanks to my mom’s side of the family, which is almost entirely Italian. From a young age, I assumed that most of these hand movements were curse words or had some kind of fiery undertone. After attending a class on Italian gestures, I’ve come to realize that while some of them are indeed bad words, many others convey a wide range of emotions. This experience left me with new knowledge, plenty of laughs, and a deeper appreciation for the power of nonverbal communication.
The class began with an icebreaker. The instructor asked everyone to demonstrate hand gestures they already knew. The room quickly filled with people throwing up the thumbs-up sign, the “okay” symbol, the classic index finger point, and even the rock concert gesture. We were then handed a sheet filled with iconic Italian gestures and asked to highlight the ones we recognized. Unsurprisingly, the chef’s kiss and the three-fingered pinch—used to emphasize a point—were familiar to nearly everyone. These gestures are so synonymous with Italian culture that they’ve become universally recognized.
To deepen our understanding, the coordinator showed us a video of Italians communicating entirely through gestures. At first, the scenes were amusing but somewhat perplexing. Without words, it was challenging to grasp the full context of their interactions. However, this confusion set the stage for the next part of the class, where the gestures were broken down and explained in detail.
One of the most fascinating parts of the session was a discussion about Charles Darwin’s theories on communication. The speaker introduced the concepts of encoding and decoding. Encoding refers to creating and expressing ideas, while decoding is about interpreting and understanding them. To help us practice encoding, the instructor demonstrated various Italian hand gestures and explained the situations in which they would be used. For example, the gesture of crossing your fingers and kissing them symbolizes swearing an oath or making a solemn promise. The “okay” symbol, when dragged horizontally, conveys the meaning of “perfect” in Italian nonverbal communication.
Next, we worked on decoding. We practiced recalling the meanings of gestures by presenting them to an Italian professor at the front of the class. This interactive exercise reinforced our understanding and helped us connect the gestures to their cultural and emotional contexts. By the time we rewatched the video, what had initially seemed like a chaotic flurry of hand movements now made perfect sense.
One particularly memorable gesture involved tapping the sides of your pointer fingers together, which is used in relationship contexts to signify togetherness. Another was the infamous three-fingered pinch, which conveys exasperation or emphasis depending on the situation. These subtle yet powerful gestures highlighted how much Italians rely on nonverbal cues to communicate nuances that words alone might fail to capture.
By the end of the class, I had gained a deeper understanding of a part of my culture I had never fully appreciated. I also realized how effective and expressive Italian gestures can be, even without spoken words. This unique form of communication is very practical.