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Q: Chinese policy on giving the middle finger?
have had cab drivers on several occasions drive past me to pick the chinese or white person a few feet behind me or slowed down like they are gonna stop,take a peek and speed off among other annoying stunts.most times i dont care but there are those occassional bad mood days that i have the urge to give them the finger or shout the expletive or both but just wanted to make sure its not a criminal offense or one of those non criminal things that still gets u into trouble.
I do it, give the finger and yell insults. They very rarely dare to answer back.
I'm sure it's considered an offense, though.
The Chinese don't take the "middle finger" in the same way as it is used in America, and some other western countries. There are different gestures in different countries.
This is a previous discussion we had on it.. http://answers.echinacities.com/question/does-flicking-people-have-any-meaning-china
I think flipping the bird specifically is an american thing (maybe canada too?). In the UK... they give a backwards "V" sign... palm facing in to mean the same thing. I believe.
I did find this when searching for obscene hand gestures in China (but this is really all I found): http://www.ooze.com/finger/html/foriegn.html
TAIWAN GESTURE
The finger isn't understood in much of Asia. If someone holds up a fist and draws his index finger as if pulling a trigger, it means that something is finished or someone's dead. Not real offensive.
In China, the flipping pinkie finger is similar to the bird. (That's all it says.. it doesnt give instructions.
Ohh they understand alright
One afternoon My ex wife came to collect our 14yrs old son from my home
she pulled the car up in the street and tooted the horn to signal her arrival.
I went to the front door and gave the 1 minute sign to tell her he was on his way.
I hear the voice of my Chinese wife behind me say. YOU USE WRONG FINGER
That one goes in the diary
They know it from movies and so on, even though they don't really do it themselves. I give the finger on a near-daily basis, mostly to people who say rude things followed up by 他听不懂 and uproarious laughter, and it shuts them up almost immediately.
I think China's been giving the finger to the rest of the world for centuries!
Actually, as Kchur just said, from movies and TV, most of the younger generation are starting to use it... just as many people now will say "baibai" to say "zaijian" (goodbye).
I do it when crossing the road green pedestrian light person trying to turn while I have the right to walk and he is just persistent with the horn slowly getting closer so I just give the finger and keep walking. Usually the horn stops but never been confronted or stopped by doing it.
I've done it once, and the native was totally clueless.
