Posted by Riccardo (195.103.80.225) on March 23, 2001 at 02:25:40:
In Reply to: A letter from grandma....:^) posted by Charlie S on March 22, 2001 at 16:08:21:
...but my old boss (in my previous job) was told that the 'middle finger stuck up in the air' was a good sign of friendship.
First time we went in San Francisco (1982), he showed his finger to the airport border guards, with both hands! (like our Pope kiss the ground when he arrives in a new land)
He was arrested (only 5 mins, then they understood his bona fide...) and, after this nice thing, I started to plan to search for another job (a boss cannot be so stupid!)
In fact, this hand sign is pretty new for italians. (We use a larger sign with both arms...)
and many people still don't know what it means (Strange, for a people that speaks WITH hands! :-) )
oh, and as a new italian lesson....
Italians do not use the "F##K YOU", has no sense nor correct translation here.
We use the "vaffanculo" word (pronounce vah-fan-q-loh)
(that means 'go to give your a§§ to any person want to pick it'
Languages are so different!!! :-)