I have given the “OK” sign by making a circle with my thumb and my index finger thousands of times in my life but had no clue it wasn’t “OK” to use, and hopefully, I have never offended anyone in using it. If so, I’m sorry.
In Brazil, this gesture is “considered extremely vulgar” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014 p.352) and is compared to giving someone the middle finger in the United States. One of the best examples of this hand gesture being misused was in the 1950s when Vice-President Richard Nixon was exiting a plane. He gave this symbol to the crowd as you expected it was not received well, (Alfred Borcover, 2020) and thus began a joke with the Brazilian people about what Nixon was doing to the American people.
Keep in mind as you travel the world that if you are in Germany, Russia, and Greece, some in those countries also find the sign offensive, and in Turkey, it insinuates the person you gestured to is a homosexual (Garden et al., 2020). Giving this sign in the South of France would mean “zero” or “worthless” as if asked if you like a meal or accommodations, their meaning would be the opposite of what you meant. Some Middle Eastern countries, such as Kuwait, compare the gesture to giving the person the “evil eye” or stare down.
Comparing those cultures to Buddhist and Hindu cultures, where it is a symbol means inner perfection or the union of consciousness and in Japan, where this is the symbol for money and used when asking about or for “money” and could imply a bribe or illicit business dealings.
No wonder why some people in these cultures are not fond of Americans. Could it be a misunderstanding of a simple hand gesture?
I wanted to look up or origins of what I believed to be a harmless gesture and sign that everything with me was “good,” thinking there had to be some story behind how it all began.
Still, I could not locate a reliable source of where it all begins, but instead, I found conflicting reports of what it means now. However, the best piece of historical supporting documentation to date when this gesture first started was in a caricature created by Udo Keppler with Uncle Sam making the “OK” gesture for the 1900 Paris Exposition (Business business, 2020)
As I mentioned, the meaning of the symbol “OK” now has new implications in the United States and worldwide. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization, this symbol has now been added to the list of “Hate on Display” database (NPR Choice page, 2020) and has reported connections to the “white power” movement. You might want to think twice before using this gesture again in public or like a Cubs fan at in the famous Wrigley Field in Chicago (Chicago Cubs ban fan for ‘racist gesture’, 2020, you could be banned from visiting or even removed from duty as a US Coast Guard was (US Coast Guard employee removed for ‘white power sign’ on-air, 2020).
If you are like me, right now, you are wondering and saying to yourself, “What??” “Really??” or “Sh*t I just did that” when communicating with someone across the room, and did I say something I shouldn’t have to them, or who else saw that and thought I meant something else?
Now I wonder what is the most appropriate way to let my peers globally know I am “OK” or all good? I have several courses with colleagues from other cultures and some living in these countries I have mentioned. Can I smile? Shake hands? Nod my head?
All this new information has my head spinning with when it is “OK” to use “OK” so for now, I will sign off with a thumbs up to let you know all is good (wait… can’t do that anymore either)
I guess in the words of Walter Cronkite, I will sign off with his signature line, “And that’s the way it is.” (Please click below)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj0bwLBckkI
References:
(2020). Retrieved 26 October 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5tdqojA26E
Alfred Borcover, T. (2020). HANDS OFF. Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-01-26-9201080471-story.html
Business business. (2020). Retrieved 26 October 2020, from http://loc.gov/pictures/resource/ppmsca.25422/
Chicago Cubs ban fan for ‘racist gesture’. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/sport/baseball/48214303
Garden, H., HowStuffWorks, Culture, People, Traditions, & Languages. (2020). 10 Obscene Hand Gestures From Around the World. Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://people.howstuffworks.com/10-obscene-hand-gestures-from-around-world2.htm
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences (9th ed.).
NPR Choice page. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/764728163/the-ok-hand-gesture-is-now-listed-as-a-symbol-of-hate
US Coast Guard employee removed for ‘white power sign’ on air. (2020). Retrieved 24 October 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45535715
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