Everyday English: Say What People Did — Gestures & Reactions

0:00 Hi, everybody.

0:01 Welcome to www.engvid.com.

0:02 I'm Adam.

0:03 In today's lesson, I have something that's a little bit interesting, I hope.

0:09 I'm going to talk to you about gestures,

0:12 hand signals, some things you do with your face, things you do with your body,

0:17 because communication is not all about words and sentences and vocabulary.

0:22 Communication, a lot of what you communicate

0:26 to people comes through the way you look,

0:29 how you do things with your eyes, how your body stands.

0:33 Like, if you're facing somebody or facing away from somebody,

0:36 the way your hands move, a lot of that is communication.

0:40 But I'm going to show you a bunch of actual physical gestures,

0:45 but people say these, especially when they're reporting about somebody else.

0:50 So, for example, if you ask someone about

0:54 somebody else's reaction to a piece of news,

0:57 for example, obviously you can't see the physical gesture.

1:02 But the person telling you what...

1:05 How the person reacted might simply tell you what gesture that person made,

1:11 and from the gesture you will understand their reaction.

1:14 Okay?

1:15 I'll give you an example.

1:16 We're going to start with "scratch one's head".

1:19 So, "scratch one's head", if I do...

1:22 If you're telling me something and I go...

1:25 What do you understand from that?

1:27 You understand that maybe I'm confused, maybe I don't really know what's going

1:32 on, but if you tell me that somebody else reacted

1:35 by doing that, I will understand that that person

1:39 was confused or didn't know what's going on.

1:42 Right?

1:42 So, I have a friend, he's a teacher,

1:45 and I knew he was going to teach his students a very complex grammatical point.

1:51 So, after the class, I asked my friend, "How did it go?

1:55 Do they understand the lesson?" And he said, "Oh, no,

1:57 they were pretty much scratching their heads

1:59 the whole time." So, when he says to me,

2:02 "They were scratching their heads the whole time",

2:05 I understand they didn't understand,

2:07 they were very confused, they didn't know what's going on.

2:10 He doesn't have to show me, he doesn't have to tell me they were confused,

2:15 he tells me the gesture that they made.

2:17 And in English, we have quite a few of these gestures

2:21 that people say that somebody else did to get the...

2:26 To get the reaction, basically, to see how somebody reacted.

2:30 Now, the reason we would say these, the reason I

2:33 would say he scratched his head instead of he was confused,

2:37 because this gives more of a visual description of the person's reaction.

2:41 Instead of saying he was confused...

2:43 Okay, he was confused.

2:45 If he was scratching his head,

2:47 it means it was maybe too complicated or he was trying to understand,

2:50 but couldn't really understand, and it gives more of a visual.

2:53 I can see him and I feel sorry for him

2:55 because scratching his head doesn't know what's going on.

2:58 So, let's go through a few more of these.

3:01 "To lick one's lips" or "to smack one's lips".

3:05 So, licking one's lips, smacking one's lips, like opening and closing.

3:13 So, mostly, we use this to describe someone's reaction to food.

3:18 So, you go to a restaurant and you can smell the food, it's really delicious,

3:23 everything around you, so you're licking your lips,

3:25 means you're excited about what is coming.

3:27 You are anticipating a very good meal

3:30 and you're getting your mouth ready for it.

3:33 But, these days, we also use this expression just to mean

3:38 generally excited or if you see a very good opportunity,

3:41 you get very excited and you're anticipating.

3:45 So, investors are licking their lips at the prospect of this company's success.

3:52 So, some investors put money into this company or they bought stocks,

3:57 and there's news that this company is going to have a very successful year,

4:00 so the investors are licking their lips

4:02 because they know money is coming to them.

4:04 So, they're very excited about that.

4:06 So, not only food, other things as well.

4:10 "To rub one's hands together".

4:13 Same idea, very similar to "lick one's lips",

4:17 you're anticipating something, you're excited about something that's coming.

4:20 So, I walked into a store, for example,

4:23 or I walked into a car dealership, that's a better example.

4:26 And over there in the corner, I see the salesperson with a young couple.

4:31 And the couple looks, you know, they're very excited, they're getting a new car.

4:35 But I could see the car dealer was just rubbing his hands,

4:38 waiting to sign the contract.

4:39 He was rubbing his hands, again, he knew money is coming to him,

4:43 he's getting a nice commission, he's excited,

4:45 he's a little bit greedy about what's coming.

4:47 So, I can describe that feeling.

4:50 I don't need to say the salesman looked very excited.

4:54 The salesman was rubbing his hands together, very clear what he was feeling.

5:00 "Shrug one's shoulders".

5:01 Right?

5:02 So, if somebody shrugs one's shoulders, that generally means one of two things.

5:09 One, they just don't care, or two, they just want to be in a bad mood.

5:14 It doesn't matter what you say to them, they just want to stay in a bad mood.

5:17 Especially when we're talking about a child, right?

5:20 A child doesn't want to go to school.

5:22 And you say to the child, or I...

5:25 Okay, I'll give you as a third person.

5:28 My friend's son didn't want to go to school.

5:30 So, I asked my friend, "What did you do?" So, she...

5:33 My friend says, "She offered him candy

5:35 and ice cream when he comes home from school.

5:38 If he goes to school, when he comes home,

5:41 he'll get candy and ice cream." And I said,

5:43 "Oh, that's a nice, nice little trade.

5:45 What did he say?" "Oh, he just shrugged his shoulders." Didn't really care,

5:50 or he just wanted to be in a bad mood.

5:52 He shrugged his shoulders.

5:54 To make a face.

5:55 You can make all kinds of different faces, but essentially,

6:00 when you're making a face, usually it means a negative reaction.

6:05 Right?

6:05 So, I offered her a position, a raise, but it included more duties,

6:11 and I say, "How did she react?" "Oh, she just made a face.

6:14 I don't think she was interested." "Make a face" usually means to show through

6:20 a facial gesture that you don't like

6:22 something or you're not interested in something.

6:26 To cross one's fingers.

6:27 Now, this actually has two meanings.

6:30 If you cross your fingers for someone, you go,

6:33 "I'll cross my fingers for you." Or you can say it on the phone.

6:38 "Good luck.

6:38 So, you have your interview tomorrow?

6:40 Okay, well, I hope you do very well.

6:42 I'll be crossing my fingers for you." It means I'll be wishing you good luck.

6:48 But a completely different meaning, if someone says something to you,

6:53 and then later it turns out that it's not true, and I say,

6:56 "But you told me you'll do this." I go, "Yeah,

6:59 I was crossing my fingers." It basically means crossing your fingers

7:03 behind your back means I'm not telling the truth, I'm lying.

7:07 But because I'm crossing my fingers, I'm not committing a sin.

7:10 I'm not going to be punished.

7:12 I'm not a bad person, because this lets me say whatever I want.

7:16 It's very childish, and if somebody...

7:18 If an adult says this, they're just basically taking a joke, right?

7:22 They weren't very serious the first time.

7:25 So, to wish someone luck or to not tell the truth.

7:28 Okay, so here are a few.

7:29 Let's look at some more.

7:31 Okay, so now we have a few more,

7:33 and some of these are a little bit less literal than others,

7:36 but I'll give you an example.

7:38 To give a thumbs up.

7:39 So, if you give somebody a thumbs up,

7:42 it means that you approve or accept something,

7:44 or that you just think something is very good, right?

7:48 So, this could be a very literal thing.

7:50 If somebody gives you a thumbs up from a distance,

7:53 or he gave me a thumbs up, I could see him from the crowd.

7:58 If I'm on the stage,

7:59 my friends in the crowd giving me a thumbs up means he thinks I did a good job.

8:03 But this can also be a more figurative expression.

8:08 The government gave the military the thumbs

8:12 up to proceed with the attack, right?

8:14 So, basically, to give the thumbs up is just to give permission in some cases.

8:19 It's not an actual physical thing, but it can be a physical gesture as well.

8:25 To raise one's hands in the air.

8:29 Like that, right?

8:31 So, when you do that, basically, what you're indicating is that you just...

8:34 You give up.

8:35 You're not going to try to argue with somebody,

8:37 or you're not going to try to convince somebody.

8:39 You give up.

8:40 You're frustrated, right?

8:41 So, again, we can say...

8:43 Report this about someone's reaction.

8:45 So, the mother and child were fighting.

8:48 The child wanted to be picked up.

8:51 So, finally, the mother just threw her hands in the air.

8:54 Oh, sorry, I should...

8:55 Sometimes it's a bit more...

8:59 Sometimes it's a little bit more emphasis.

9:01 If you throw your hands in the air, it means, like, you basically...

9:05 You're just giving up.

9:06 Raise your hands in the air could also mean surrender.

9:09 Like, if the police say freeze, the criminals will raise their hands in the air.

9:15 It means they're giving up.

9:16 So, but to throw is more about the frustration of giving up.

9:21 To plug one's ears.

9:23 So, if somebody plugs one's ears,

9:25 it means they don't want to listen to what you have to say.

9:29 So, I was...

9:31 The parent was trying to discipline the child, the teenager,

9:34 but the teenager just plugged his ears and wouldn't listen.

9:37 Very straightforward.

9:39 To stomp one's feet.

9:40 Again, that's a bit more childish.

9:42 Adults don't generally do that, but if we want

9:46 to show or say that somebody was acting childish...

9:50 So, for example, I told my boss that I can't come into work this morning,

9:55 tomorrow morning, and he just started stomping his feet.

9:58 He was angry.

9:58 Right?

9:59 So, when you're stomping your feet, you're angry.

10:02 A child wants attention or wants candy or wants to be picked up,

10:06 it will stomp its feet so the parents can react.

10:09 But when you talk about an adult,

10:11 they're probably just very angry or frustrated also.

10:14 It could be a reaction.

10:18 To sit on one's hands.

10:19 Basically, like, sitting on one's hands.

10:22 So, did you ask your sister for help?

10:24 I asked her, but she just sat on her hands and didn't do anything.

10:27 So, if somebody sits on their hands, it means they...

10:30 First of all, it means do nothing.

10:32 They don't want to do anything, or they just don't want to help.

10:37 Usually, it's also a sign of stubbornness.

10:40 The person just doesn't want to listen, doesn't want to help,

10:43 just sits on their hands and stays to the side.

10:47 Twiddle one's thumbs.

10:48 I'll try to show you this.

10:49 So, you're just sitting there, you're...

10:51 This is twiddling.

10:52 Just turning your thumbs one around the other.

10:55 I don't know where the word "twiddle"

10:57 came from, but that's what this gesture means.

10:59 So, if somebody's just twiddling their thumbs, it means they're bored.

11:03 They have nothing to do.

11:05 Or they're very restless.

11:07 They want to be busy, but they just have nothing to do.

11:10 So, they're bored, they're a little bit stressed out by that.

11:14 Okay?

11:14 So now, now you understand these physical gestures, what they mean,

11:18 but it's also very important to know

11:20 what they mean when somebody speaks the gestures.

11:23 Not when you...

11:24 When you can't see them, basically.

11:27 When somebody is reporting someone else's reaction,

11:30 it's important to understand these.

11:32 Okay.

11:32 So, if you have any questions about any of these, please go to www.engvid.com.

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12:01 See you then.

12:02 Bye-bye.