World without words
Fingertip kiss
Peace sign
Something that is strongly identified
The V-sign stands for
with the French is the fingertip kiss. It
“victory”.
means “that’s good. That’s great”.
Pointing fingers Hand purse
Finger pointing is a
Is seen as a request
way to give direction.
for clarity. With the
Another meaning can
hand purse gesture,
be a threat.
the hand asks precise information from the
Sitting positions
other party. The hand
In France it is not polite to put your
purse can also have another meaning.
legs onto any furniture when sitting.
When putting the hand towards the
Crossing legs knee-knee, ankle-knee
mouth it means “I am hungry”.
and ankle-ankle is common in France.
Handshakes
Thumbs-up
When greeting
This means that
someone French
everything is okay.
shake hands. It can be seen as a “hello”.
Waving Waving means “hello”
Kisses
and “goodbye”. It can
French men have to bow low over a
also ask someone’s
woman’s hand without touching it. If it
attention meaning “no!”
is more than a polite meeting, the hand
or “help!”.
can be kissed.
Winking Nodding and shaking head
As is the meaning
As in most countries, nodding the head
amongst most
up and down means “yes” and shaking
Europeans, winking
the head back en forth means “no”.
with one eyelid signifies some shared
Okay sign
secret.
This sign has the meaning of “zero” or “worthless” in France. 83