Every day we communicate with others—often with symbols or gestures. Here are some of the most common gestures.
Shaking Hands
Shaking hands has been done since at least the second century BC. It's a symbol of trust. Nowadays we usually shake the right hands. But in the old times, people also shook left hands. The world record for handshakes is held by a man from New Jersey, who shook 11, 000 hands in a single day.
Thumbs Up
The thumbs up sign is thought to come from contests in Rome. There people decided whether the fighter would live or die by thumbs up or thumbs down. In fact it came from an old English saying "Here's my thumb on it", which was used to seal a bargain(达成交易). Businessmen held their thumbs up and extended them, until the two touched each other.
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Rochambeau, or rock, paper, scissors, is played all over the world to solve some difficult disagreements. A judge in Florida ordered people in a case to use this game to solve it. In Indonesia, it is earwig(蜈蚣), human, and elephant. The earwig drives the elephant mad. The human kills the earwig, and the elephant kills the human. If you know why it is called Rochambeau, please let me know. It's still a mystery.
OK
The real history of this sign is lost. Some people think it refers to American president Martin Van Buren. He was often called "Old Kinderhook". Others say it is the bad handwriting which made OR—standing for "order received" into OK.
