Italian gestures -- fast reference
Purse hand (mano a borsa): 'What do you want/what are you saying?' -- NOT 'excellent food' | Chin flick: Rudeness or dismissal | Corna (horns): Multiple meanings by context | Cheek screw (guancia avvitata): 'Excellent food' -- this is the actual food gesture | Finger kiss: Approval/delicious | Safe to attempt: Thumb up, finger kiss, cheek screw
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The purse hand -- the most misunderstood Italian gesture
The mano a borsa (purse hand) is the gesture most associated internationally with Italy -- all five fingertips pressed together, hand raised at approximately chest height, sometimes accompanied by a slight forward-and-back motion. Its actual meaning in Italian: 'What do you want?' or 'What are you saying?' or more broadly 'I don't understand you/your behaviour.' It is an interrogative gesture, expressing confusion or questioning of someone's motives or actions. The tourist myth that the purse hand means 'excellent food' is a persistent and widespread error -- probably originating from a single misidentification in a popular guide or travel article. The actual 'excellent food' gesture in the Italian system is the cheek screw (guancia avvitata) -- the index finger pressed into the cheek and rotated, indicating that the food is so good it is literally drilling into the face. The purse hand is genuinely useful as a tourist tool: it correctly expresses confusion, questioning, or 'what is going on here?' in situations where an Italian is doing something you don't understand. Using it to indicate food appreciation, however, would communicate something very different from what you intend.
The most important Italian gestures and their actual meanings
Cheek screw (guancia avvitata): Index finger into the cheek, rotated -- 'this is excellent/delicious.' This is the food appreciation gesture. Safe to use. Finger kiss (bacio delle dita): Fingers compressed, then opened with a kiss sound -- general approval, often food-related but also 'perfect/excellent.' Safe to use. Chin flick (gesto della barba): Back of fingers pushed forward under chin -- 'I couldn't care less/I don't give a damn/go away.' This is a mild-to-moderate rudeness gesture. Don't use toward Italians. Corna (horns): Index and little finger extended, middle and ring held down by thumb -- four possible meanings: 1) protection against evil eye (discreet, toward ground); 2) indication that someone is being cuckolded (directed at the person, can be offensive); 3) heavy metal/rock approval (directed upward, international usage); 4) general ill-wishing toward someone. The temple screw (vite alla tempia): Index finger rotated at temple -- 'you are crazy/he/she is crazy.' Used to indicate someone is mentally confused or acting irrationally. The money rub: Thumb rubbing index and middle fingers -- 'it costs money/expensive.' Universal but specifically common in Italian market/price discussion contexts. The nod of dismissal: Head tipped sharply backward (not the international agreement nod forward) -- in southern Italy, particularly Naples, the backward head tilt means 'no' and can easily be misread as agreement by someone unfamiliar with the southern Italian gestural code.
The Neapolitan gesture system -- a parallel language
Neapolitan gesture has a documented tradition more elaborate than any other Italian regional system -- the De Jorio 'Mimica degli Antichi' (1832) documented 157 Neapolitan gestures with specific meanings. The next research has expanded the documented vocabulary to approximately 250 signs. The Neapolitan system is specifically interesting because many of its gestures have ancient Greek and Roman origins (De Jorio specifically argued that the Neapolitan gestures preserved the gestural language of ancient Greek colonies in the area). The comparison between Neapolitan gestures and the gestures depicted in ancient Roman wall paintings at Herculaneum and Pompeii shows specific correspondences. The UNESCO inscription: the Neapolitan gestural language (La Parlata della Mano -- the speech of the hand) was proposed for UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription in 2020 as a recognition of its cultural specificity and historical depth. Naples cultural guide
What is the purse hand gesture in Italy?
The Italian purse hand (mano a borsa -- all five fingertips pressed together, hand raised) means 'What do you want?' or 'What are you saying?' or 'I don't understand your behaviour.' It is an interrogative or questioning gesture. It doesn't mean 'excellent food' -- that is a widespread tourist misconception. The actual Italian food appreciation gesture is the cheek screw (guancia avvitata) -- index finger into the cheek, rotated, meaning 'this is delicious.' The purse hand is correctly used to express confusion, question someone's motives, or ask for clarification in a somewhat direct way.
What Italian gestures should tourists avoid?
Italian gestures tourists should avoid using: the chin flick (back of fingers pushed forward under the chin) -- means 'I don't care/go away,' a moderate rudeness gesture. The backward head tilt in southern Italy -- means 'no' but looks like agreement to northerners and foreigners. The corna directed at a specific person (index and little finger extended toward someone) -- can mean you are calling them a cuckold, which is offensive. And the temple screw directed at someone -- means 'you are crazy.' Safe gestures to attempt: the cheek screw for excellent food, the finger kiss for approval, thumb up for general agreement, and the money rub when discussing prices.
What are Italian gestures for food?
Italian food-related gestures: the cheek screw (guancia avvitata, index finger into cheek rotated) -- 'this is excellent/delicious'. The finger kiss (fingers compressed then opened with a kiss sound) -- 'perfect, delicious'. The OK gesture (thumb and forefinger forming a circle with other fingers extended) -- less common in Italy than in Anglo-American culture for food but understood. And the money rub (thumb rubbing index and middle finger) -- 'this is expensive,' used to comment on restaurant prices. The purse hand (often incorrectly described in tourist guides as meaning 'excellent food') actually means 'what do you want?' and shouldn't be used for food appreciation.
Are Italian gestures different in Naples versus Milan?
Italian gestures show significant regional variation. Naples and the south have the most elaborate gesture vocabulary -- the Neapolitan system has approximately 250 documented gestures, many of ancient Greek-Roman origin, used as a near-complete parallel language that can substitute for speech. The backward head tilt (meaning 'no') is specifically southern Italian and Neapolitan. In Milan and the north, it is rarely used. The corna gesture is more commonly used for evil-eye protection in the south. In the north it more often carries the cuckoldry meaning. Milan and northern Italian body language is generally less gestural and more physically restrained than southern Italian. The full expressiveness of the southern Italian gesture tradition can seem excessive to northern Italians just as it does to foreigners.
What is the Italian gesture for being crazy?
The Italian 'crazy' gesture is the vite alla tempia (temple screw) -- the index finger is rotated at the temple, indicating that someone's mental gears aren't functioning correctly. Used to indicate that a person is acting irrationally, is confused, or is genuinely mentally unwell. The gesture is widely understood throughout Italy. It is used in traffic (a common Italian driving communication), in family contexts, and in general social commentary. A related gesture: tapping the forehead with the index finger (rather than rotating) has a similar but slightly weaker 'you lack common sense' meaning. Both gestures directed at another person are mildly to moderately rude and should be used only in contexts where Italian humour and directness are clearly the register.
Is there a book about Italian hand gestures?
The primary academic documentation of Italian gestures: Desmond Morris, Peter Collett, Peter Marsh and Marie O'Shaughnessy, 'Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution' (1979, Jonathan Cape) -- the most cited academic study, based on fieldwork across 40 European locations with specific chapters on Italian regional variation. The Andrea de Jorio, 'La Mimica degli Antichi Investigata nel Gestire Napoletano' (1832) -- the founding document of Neapolitan gesture documentation, connecting ancient Roman gestures to the then-contemporary Neapolitan system. Both are available in Italian academic libraries. For a practical and entertaining English-language guide to Italian gestures, 'The Italian Hand' by Bruno Munari (1958 graphic design classic, showing 20 common Italian gestures with typography) remains the most cited popular treatment.
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Plan my cultural Italy trip →What is the Italian gesture for money?
The Italian money gesture is the thumb rubbing back and forth across the index and middle fingers -- the universal money-rubbing gesture that indicates cost, price, or the importance of money in a transaction. Used in Italian daily life to indicate: 'it costs money,' 'this is expensive,' 'pay me/him/her,' or in traffic disputes to suggest that the other driver got his license through bribery. The gesture is particularly common in market contexts (the buyer rubbing fingers when asking a vendor the price) and in the specific Italian tradition of commenting on costs -- Italian culture has a highly developed vocabulary for discussing money and price, and the gesture functions as a shorthand for conversations about financial consideration. The money gesture is cross-cultural (it appears in most European and many global gestural traditions) but is specifically integrated into Italian daily communication in ways that go beyond its use in most northern European cultures.
What Italian gestures are safe to use as a tourist?
Italian gestures safe for tourists to attempt: the cheek screw (guancia avvitata, index finger rotated in cheek) for expressing food was excellent -- universally understood and appreciated. The finger kiss (compress fingers and open with a kissing sound) for general approval. Thumb up for agreement or approval (universal but well-received in Italian context). The OK circle (thumb and index forming a circle) for agreement or satisfaction. And the 'no' head shake (horizontal, internationally standard) -- noting that in southern Italy the backward head tilt also means 'no' and isn't a tourist risk. Gestures to avoid as a tourist: the chin flick, the corna directed at a person, the temple screw directed at someone, and the backward head tilt (risk of miscommunication). The purse hand can be used correctly (meaning 'what do you want/what are you saying?') but is often misused by tourists thinking it means food approval.
Do Italian gestures appear in other cultures?
Italian gestures have spread internationally through the Italian diaspora communities: the money rub, the chin flick, and the corna are documented in Italian-American communities in New York and Boston with meanings essentially preserved from the southern Italian original. The Argentinian gestural vocabulary has significant Italian immigrant influence (approximately 40% of Argentinians have Italian immigrant ancestry, primarily from southern Italy and Sicily). The Neapolitan gestural system specifically has been documented in the Naples diaspora communities of Brazil (Sao Paulo has approximately 6 million Brazilians of Neapolitan descent), where specific Neapolitan gestures remain in use approximately 150 years after the primary immigration wave. The academic question of whether Italian gesture spread to other European cultures (the chin flick appears in France and Spain as well) or originated independently is still debated. The De Jorio position was that Mediterranean gesture has ancient Greek-Roman roots making it a shared inheritance rather than an Italian invention.