Italian Hand Gestures

Comedian Russell Peters remarks [note: language not appropriate for kids in the video] that "every word in Italian has a hand signal that goes with it...it's like [Italians] all used to be deaf at some point." Indeed, the language is spoken as much with the hands and face than the lips. Gli italiani parlano con le mani. The following is a summary of some of the main gestures--note that for most of them, if you do it with both hands, it is a stronger version of the same gesture.

Warning: Many of these gestures can be vulgar; stars indicate how much (* = off-color, ** = somewhat offensive, *** = extremely offensive)

Resources for Learning More About Italian Hand Gestures