«Ma che vuoi?»: the most famous Italian gesture in the world, in the piazza, at coffee time.

If you watch two Italians talking, you can understand a lot of things even without hearing a single word: whether they agree, whether one of them is angry, whether the coffee was good. We Italians speak with our voices, but also with our hands. We even do it on the phone, when nobody can see us.

One of our gestures has become famous all over the world: the fingertips brought together, pointing upwards. Since 2020 it has also been an emoji, and on the internet many simply call it “the Italian hand.” In this article we explain eight gestures we use every day: how to make them, what they mean, and which ones are best avoided with people you don't know well.

A dictionary for foreigners

In 1958 the Milanese designer Bruno Munari, whom many in Japan know for his children’s books, published a curious book: «Supplemento al dizionario italiano». Inside there were no words, but gestures: fifty photographs of hands, explained in Italian, English, French, and German, to help tourists understand Italians. In the second edition, in 1963, the number grew to seventy.

The idea was not new: back in 1832, in Naples, the archaeologist Andrea de Jorio had collected the gestures of Neapolitans and compared them with figures on ancient Greek vases. And today? According to psychologist Isabella Poggi, from Roma Tre University, in everyday life Italians use around 250 gestures, and almost everyone knows them.

Eight gestures to know

1. «Ma che vuoi?»

How to do it: bring the tips of all your fingers and thumb together, pointing upwards, and move your hand up and down from the wrist.

What it means: “What are you saying?”, “What do you want?”, “Come on, I don’t believe it!”. It expresses disbelief or a bit of impatience.

Warning: it is the most imitated gesture and also the most misunderstood. Outside Italy, on the internet, its emoji sometimes means “perfect” or “delicious”: for an Italian, it does not! And with someone you have just met, it is better not to do it.

2. «Che buono!»

How to do it: press the tip of your index finger against your cheek and twist it a little, as if turning a screw.

What it means: “It’s delicious!”. It is used for food, even with your mouth full.

It looks like a gesture for children, but adults do it too. And whoever cooked for you will be thrilled.

3. «Perfetto!»

How to do it: the thumb and index finger touch to form a circle; the other fingers remain open.

What it means: “Perfect”, “All right”, “Great”.

In Japan and Korea, the same circle can mean something else: we’ll see it below.

4. «Non mi interessa»

How to do it: the back of the fingers brushes under the chin, then the hand moves forward, away from the face.

What it means: “I don’t care”, “It doesn’t matter to me at all”.

Warning: it is a rather impolite gesture. It is only used with friends, never with a teacher or a boss.

5. «Occhio!»

How to do it: with the tip of the index finger, pull down the skin under the eye slightly.

What it means: “Be careful!”, “Watch out!”, or “I’m keeping an eye on you”. It is used a lot in Northern Italy.

Even the word alone works: «Occhio!» means “watch out!”.

6. «Ma sei matto?»

How to do it: tap lightly with the tip of your index finger on your temple, on the side of your head. In the North, many people instead wave an open hand in front of their face.

What it means: “Are you crazy?”, “What an idea!”. Sometimes also “Use your head!”.

Warning: between friends it’s a joke, with a stranger it’s an insult.

7. «Soldi»

How to do it: the thumb rubs the tips of the index and middle fingers, as if counting coins.

What it means: “It’s expensive!”, “It takes money”, or “That person is rich”.

8. «Calma!»

How to do it: open hands, palms facing down, slowly moving downwards.

What it means: “Calm down”, “Take it easy”, “Don’t get upset”.

The same hand, three countries

Three hands, three stories: the Italian pinched fingers, the circle, the Korean heart.

Some gestures are understood all over the world, others are not. And sometimes the same hand says one thing in Rome, another in Tokyo, and yet another in Seoul.

The circle. In Italy, the circle made with the thumb and index finger means “perfect”. In Japan and Korea, turned with the palm facing up, it becomes a coin: it means “money”.

Money. To say “money”, in Italy you rub your fingers; in Japan you make the circle. In Korea both are used: the circle turned like a coin and the rubbing fingers, just like in Italy.

The Korean heart. In Korea, crossing the thumb and index finger forms a small heart, made famous by K-pop and K-dramas: it means “I love you” or “thank you!”. An Italian who doesn’t know it might mistake it for our money gesture, because the hand looks similar… and wonder why you’re asking them for money!

«Vieni qui». In Japan and Korea, you call someone over with the palm facing down; in Korea, with the palm facing up you call animals, so it’s best to avoid it. In Italy both ways are used, and in the South many people beckon with their fingers curling downwards, just like in Asia.

The X. In Japan and Korea, arms crossed in an X mean “no” or “not allowed”. In Italy it’s not an everyday gesture: to say “no” you shake your head or wag your index finger from side to side. In the South, sometimes, just tilting your chin back is enough.

Why do we gesticulate so much?

No one knows for sure. Some point to the centuries when Italy was occupied by foreign armies: with hands people could understand each other without being understood by others. Some point to the cities of the past, crowded and noisy, where a voice wasn't enough to get noticed. None of these hypotheses has been proven.

There is, however, one hard number. In 2024, two researchers from Lund University in Sweden asked Italians and Swedes to tell the same story: Italians made about 22 gestures per hundred words, Swedes 11. Almost double! But let’s not overdo the stereotypes: as one of the two researchers says, “today we know of no culture that doesn’t gesticulate.”

Let’s try together

In the next Yuujou online conversation, we’ll play with gestures: Alain will make one, and you guess what it means. You can answer out loud, by typing in the chat, or… with your hands! And if there is a gesture in your country that an Italian wouldn’t understand, bring it along: we’ll compare them together.

When: Wednesday, October 28 at 9:00 PM Japan time, for Japanese speakers; Sunday, November 8 at 9:00 PM Korea time, for Korean speakers (in Italy it’s 1:00 PM). You can also just listen.

How to participate: sign up for free at Yuujou and, at the time of the meeting, tap “Talk Room” in the menu.

Sources. Bruno Munari, «Supplemento al dizionario italiano» (1958 and 1963) · Andrea de Jorio, «La mimica degli antichi investigata nel gestire napoletano» (Naples, 1832) · Isabella Poggi, Roma Tre University (New York Times, 2013) · Il Post, June 4, 2024, featuring the study by Maria Graziano and Marianne Gullberg, Lund University · Emojipedia, Emoji 13.0 (2020) · Visit Italy, guide to Italian gestures · guides to Japanese and Korean gestures (TCJ, 90 Day Korean) · emoji: Google Noto Emoji, Apache 2.0 license.