In Scotland, people waved a friend over with a hand-puppet like move

July 6, 2016 1:49 PM

Last month, in Scotland, people were waving at friends across the way by extending their arms up and forming a hand-puppet shape with their hand. (With the 4 fingers parallel to the ground, at a right angle from the arm, thumb under the fingers. Then the thumb and fingers move apart and back together, to simulate talking, like you'd see the Muppet Kermit talk.) Is this a wide-spread phenomenon in Scotland, or the UK in general? Is it from a TV show, or other cultural segment that hasn't made the jump to the US yet? Or was this a bizarre coincidence to see a few times over the course of a week? (More detail below.)

Later, at a totally different place (still in Scotland), it happened again with a couple making the motion to people across the way - where you might normally just wave your hand "hi", or potentially do a "come over here" move.

And then, just to complicate things, an older Scottish couple at a restaurant were discussing what this meant, so it's certainly not universal.

The main guess is that it's from a TV show that's popular there. Like, the equivalent of everyone repeating some Seinfeld action in the US in the 90s. But which one? It turns out to be hugely difficult to google, as any reference to hand gestures leads you to a broad catalog of offensive hand gestures in various cultures.

Any idea where this is from? And when it originated? And what it means, if anything besides "Hi"?

posted by davebug to Human Relations (12 answers total)

Are you sure they were really making the "lower jaw" of the hand puppet with their thumbs? Orienting one's palm toward someone and flapping just the fingers up and down (exactly like a jawless hand puppet) is a less common but common enough (and to my American sensibility especially British) way of waving to someone.
posted by cmoj at 2:20 PM on July 6, 2016

Where there Babies involved? That seems a lot like how babies learn to wave at people. Co-incidentally I was in a super market in the UK, last week, performing an almost identical gesture (at a 6 month old), though with the thumb folded back against the palm, which is more typical of what I know of the baby gesture (or else stuck out to the side). It's not unknown for people to imitate this even if there are no kids around.
posted by tallus at 2:42 PM on July 6, 2016

Echoing the above clarifications - and at the risk of embarrassing myself (or my late mother), I believe my Mum (Londoner with one East End parent and one Glaswegian parent) called this "widdly-woo" (see also). *ahem*
posted by pammeke at 3:02 PM on July 6, 2016

In some cultures it's considered really REALLY rude to wave someone over to greet them palm up. I know that generally in asia that's considered how you call over a dog or animal. So that palm down/fingers down wave is generally more polite, less aggressive.

I didn't know that was a thing in Scotland, but it is a thing in many other parts of the world. So maybe a similar idea behind it?
posted by InkDrinker at 8:40 PM on July 6, 2016

Mr. Weeyin, of Glaswegian origin, says he's only seen people doing it if they're taking the piss out of someone...mocking them while they're speaking, basically. Never as a form of greeting.
posted by weeyin at 9:15 PM on July 6, 2016

If this really was pinching the flat fingers and thumb together then it is most commonly used in a teasing way about someone talking. E.g. 'are you still yapping away?!' or 'look at the two of you sat there gossiping' or 'sorry I'm late, got caught up in a conversation, be there in a bit' etc etc.
posted by AFII at 11:55 PM on July 6, 2016

Orienting one's palm toward someone and flapping just the fingers up and down (exactly like a jawless hand puppet) is a less common but common enough (and to my American sensibility especially British) way of waving to someone.

This. In Scotland (as elsewhere) the demonstrative gesture for waving hello/goodbye is to show the person the open palm of your hand - fingers outstretched and then pivot at the elbow. But the lower key version - which somebody might want to do to acknowledge another without massively drawing attention to it - of this is just to move the fingers. This is normally something that we teach babies to do - so it might be used between adults who know each other well, in a gently mocking way.
posted by rongorongo at 12:56 AM on July 7, 2016

Yea in the UK this gesture is kind of sarcastic. Used toward a friend it could be teasing 'oh ha ha are they yapping away again?' or 'hey friend, this other person (who presumably cant see me doing this) is driving me crazy'. Used towards a stranger its accusing them of being whiny / boring / talking for too long. I often use the gesture in return to anyone who gestures at me in traffic, to mean "I see you and I'm ignoring your childish wah wah wah'. Its often accompanied by repeated side to side tilts of the head and mouthing wah, wah, wah.
posted by Ness at 3:34 AM on July 7, 2016

When I first read this, I thought it sounded insane but I think rongorongo is onto it. It's definitely the low key way of waving and people typically do this with kids. It's hilarious that you thought it may have been a Scottish wave, though. Surely people do this everywhere? Can you film yourself doing it on your phone and post it?
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 5:12 AM on July 7, 2016

I've recently seen something very similar to this emerge as a trend in crowds (at music festivals in particular) . In that context it's a useful way of signalling to your friends following you exactly where you are (assuming everyone isn't doing it).

I grew up in Scotland (although I haven't lived there for 8 years) and I've never seen what you describe in a widespread way. It's certainly not a deeply ingrained cultural thing, or an attempt to not be rude or offend.
posted by leo_r at 3:35 PM on July 7, 2016

I live in Scotland and this rings no bells at all with me. Maybe if you're really trying to get someone's attention I guess you might flutter your fingers a bit rather than just wave with a flat hand, but it's not A Thing that I've ever been aware of.
posted by penguin pie at 4:21 PM on July 7, 2016

Have lived in Scotland for the majority of my life and this being used as some kind of greeting rings no bells with me either. Also agree with weeyin - this would only really be used as a sarcastic way to suggest a person is talking too much.
posted by Ariel432 at 4:39 PM on July 7, 2016