The new book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Bookshop|Amazon) by linguist Lauren Gawne includes some fascinating studies about the movements that accompany spoken or signed language. In one, participants were asked to learn rules of a game, then explain...
Why is it harder to talk if we don’t gesture? Why do we still move our hands if we’re talking on the phone but the other person can’t see us? Such questions are tackled in the new book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Bookshop|Amazon), a sort of survey course...
Digital timepieces may be changing the way we talk, at least a little. There’s Bob o’clock (8:08), Big o’clock (8:19), and even Pi o’clock. Also this week, what do you call that gesture with your fingers when you want to make an image larger on a...
It’s California in the 1980s, and—uh-oh!—you’re outsmarted or caught doing something stupid and someone else says, “Ooooooooooo, moded!” This Schadenfreudian slip of an expression was sometimes accompanied by a chin-stroking gesture, or elaborated...
Navy veterans will recognize the two-fingered gesture that looks as if someone’s turning an invisible doorknob. It accompanies the order turn to, meaning “get to work.” How did this handy expression get started? This is part of a complete episode...