Inappropriate gestures?

Local experts,

Are there any “American” gestures which are inappropriate to use in France? Do things like the “OK sign” or “thumbs up” have a different connotation in France?

The wife and I are leaving for Paris on Friday and I don’t want to offend. :)

Thanks,

John

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Funnily enough, looking for something completely different (as one does) I just came across a website which I thought was worth passing on: french.about.com/library/weekly/aa020901a.htm

Doesn%26#39;t help with what *you* want to gesture, but it explains what the others are telling you!

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%26quot;Thumbs up%26quot; does have a different connotation. If you are gesturing (or being gestured to) that you want one of something, you hold up one THUMB, not the forefinger.

Similarly in a crowded and noisy casual restaurant, if two of you walk in and the server who is seating people holds up a thumb and first finger from across the restaurant with an enquiring look, he is asking if there are two of you.

This convention works in places like street markets and stores too where you might want to indicate %26quot;how many%26quot; of an item you want.

Not that the other is inappropriate, just that it might be misunderstood.

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%26lt;%26quot;Thumbs up%26quot; does have a different connotation%26gt;

Last year during a month long stay in the south of France, my father (who does not speak French) would go out each morning to buy croissants and pain au chocolat for out petit dejeuner. Each morning he would return, complaining about the Boulanger’s always selling him more than he asked for. Enjoying the extra croissant each morning, it never occurred to me that there was really any problem at all. That is until one morning when my father returned particularly upset and complaining about the unscrupulous Boulanger and the greedy French in general. I asked dad to explain exactly how he had ordered the croissants. He responded by holding up his index and middle finger and saying %26quot;two crescent rolls please%26quot; as he pointed to them in the display case with his other hand. The %26quot;two crescent rolls please%26quot; portion of his request I am sure was completely ignored by the Boulanger as incomprehensible gibberish. What the Boulanger saw was 3 fingers as the French always begin counting with their thumb for one, the index finger for two, the middle finger for three, and so on.

I explained to dad that he had been given the exact number of croissants that he had ordered and that tomorrow when he purchased our petit dejeuner, that for optimum results, he do so displaying one fewer finger.

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And just to andd another bit of odd information, the gesture of thumb and forefinger in China indicates the number 8.

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Sarastro

Its the same in Italy - my first trip there (MANY moons ago) I was impressed how I always seemed to be getting 1 more for luck......