Comments on: Rubbing hands together

Question: Rubbing hands together

tellurian — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:51:19 -0800

Rubbing your hands together as an indication of anticipation. Is this gesture common to all cultures?

By: jjg

jjg — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:06:21 -0800

Extremely unlikely -- the only gestures that apply universally are those deeply rooted in our neurology and physiology, like smiling or frowning. This isn't one of them.

By: Fiasco da Gama

Fiasco da Gama — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:12:14 -0800

Evidence against the proposition: rubbing hands together used to be a sign of deference up until the early twentieth century, especially as used by shopkeepers and waiters.

By: humblepigeon

humblepigeon — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:39:01 -0800

Here in the UK it's more related to greed: hands are rubbed together when one is getting money.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:39:54 -0800

It is in Japan. Or at least it used to be. The gesture reminds me of Japanese period films and dramas, where it's often used by greedy merchant characters and such ("Shime shime" is the expression that often accompanies the gesture), so it's got a kind of coarse, slightly negative nuance to it I'd say. I don't think I've ever actually performed the gesture myself except jokingly as an exaggeration of such "greedy anticipation," and can't recall if I've ever actually seen anyone using it in real life, and don't know if the younger kids even know about it nowadays. (Me: Japanese female, late 30s, FYI)

There's a word close to the "sign of deference" meaning in Japanese, "momide" (揉み手), meaning a gesture used when one is hoping for a favor, or trying to apologize, or when trying to make an excuse.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:40:10 -0800

rubbing hands together used to be a sign of deference
Wouldn't that be the wringing of hands, not rubbing the palms against each other?

By: Fiasco da Gama

Fiasco da Gama — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:47:18 -0800

Yes, tellurian---I thought that's what you meant. FWIW I'd also understand hand-wringing as anticipation in the right context, such as at the dinner table.
Rubbing flat palms together: I read somewhere once about prisoners in a jail in a central African country (which one exactly escapes my memory) who, when dancing during exercise periods, used to rub their palms together as noisily as they could as a substitute for applause, which for some reason was forbidden.

By: misozaki

misozaki — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:49:49 -0800

I thought "hand-wringing" means you feel distressed about something?

By: YoBananaBoy

YoBananaBoy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:38:43 -0800

hands are rubbed together when one is getting money.

Yes, almost like in anticipation of receiving the money.

By: monocultured

monocultured — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:29:35 -0800

Working in a very drafty tech store, come winter I would be hugging myself and rubbing my hands together. A co-worker kept reminding me not to do that in front of customers, since the handrubbing apparently made me look like an un-trustworthy commission-earning desperado.

I'm sure there's a whole universe of meaning if you move incrementally from hand rubbing to a more wringing motion. Mr Burns does that occasionally, when he's not doing the finger-tip dance.

"Wringing hands" and "rubbing hands" on Google image search was a let-down; I thought you'd get a whole taxonomy of emotions, but no.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:53:06 -0800

Convoluted with keeping your hands warm, I've found this discussion. Looks like it's not universal. The Alexander the Great angle is interesting.

By: fingerbang

fingerbang — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:35:52 -0800

I wonder if it might be very old and related to hand cleaning. Rubbing your palms together is a good way of getting grime off in the absence of anything else. You might do so in preparation for something good...eating maybe, sex even...