April 12, 2002

5:29 PM

The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs, & Body Language Cues.Items in this Dictionary have been researched by anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, linguists, psychiatrists, psychologists, semioticians, and others who have studied human communication from a scientific point of view. What exactly does it mean when someone touches their face, licks their lips, or dodges their eyes? You'll find the answers in this huge compendium. I spent a whole summer reading through this whole thing, and it's helped to give me a new lens with which to view human nature. The most complete collection of body language you'll ever come across.
posted by Mach3avelli (10 comments total)

I saved this for Friday for good reason.
posted by Mach3avelli at 5:30 PM on April 12, 2002

This link is completely awesome and by completely awesome I mean totally sweet

Culture. Diverse cultural gestures involve self-touching, as well. In Spain, e.g., holding a single long hair between the thumb and forefinger, and lifting it vertically above the head is a sign of "frustration." "This female gesture is a symbolic way of 'tearing your hair out' when feeling intensely frustrated" (Morris 1994:102).
posted by Settle at 5:59 PM on April 12, 2002

Great link. I know what I'll be reading this weekend . . . .
posted by josh at 6:44 PM on April 12, 2002

Nice link. *Emphatic head nod*

Non-verbal communication has always been a fascinating subject to me. We have such a hard time understanding each other that the language of the body is sometimes easier to understand than the words we speak with. It might explain why we instantly dislike some people and absolutely adore others.
posted by ashbury at 7:10 PM on April 12, 2002

According to this link, dancing can lead to fornication.

BTW the bit on eye movements is fascinating.
posted by Settle at 7:28 PM on April 12, 2002

Cognitive pleasure. Human beings experience pleasure in discovery, ideation, and knowledge. According to Cambridge University cosmologist Stephen Hawking, "There's nothing like the Eureka moment, of discovering something that no one knew before. I won't compare it to sex, but it lasts longer" (quoted in Glauber 2002).

HLUAGAGHAHGAGH gmrrm *spit*....wires HLUAGHAHGA RBZZZZ CRACK lock the damned wheels before you run me over. [sfx: r2D2 type response]
posted by Settle at 7:50 PM on April 12, 2002

Usage: In greetings, a man may use the swagger-walk while approaching another man to demonstrate power, strength, and dominance. (N.B.: The swagger-walk is not generally used to greet a woman.) In a culturally elaborated version, African-American men may drag one foot and limp from side-to-side in a pimp strut. The swagger-walk may be seen as men enter taverns or bars, to show "attitude" before engaging in rituals of courtship. Emphasis theirs.
posted by Settle at 7:56 PM on April 12, 2002

::shrugs, makes incomprehensible gesture::

ps. what ashbury said.
posted by y2karl at 8:10 PM on April 12, 2002

As a person that is 70% deaf, I've come to rely on body language to make up for it. For me, this site is great...
posted by protocool at 9:19 PM on April 12, 2002

Wauw, very sweet indeed! And also a perfect place to enlarge my English vocabulary (while I'm busy learning English as a 2nd language).
posted by roel at 1:48 PM on April 13, 2002