Body Language of Hand Rocked Side-To-Side
Cue: Hand Rocking Side-To-Side
Synonym(s): Rocking The Hand Side-To-Side
Description: The hand is held horizontally and rocked from side-to-side.
In One Sentence: Rocking the hand from side-to-side is a demonstration that the outcome may fall one way or the other.
How To Use it: Rock the hand from side-to-side to nonverbally show that you are not sure which way you believe the outcome of a situation may fall.
Context: General.
Verbal Translation: “I’m rocking my hand from side-to-side to show the various outcomes which might occur.”
Variant: N/A
Cue In Action: a) As Bill described the merger, he rocked his hand back and forth symbolizing either a mediocre company or one that would fail miserably. It could go either way, he explained. b) He rated the movie as “so-so” as he rocked his hand from side-to-side.
Meaning and/or Motivation: The hand is rocked as people describe the various outcomes that they feel may occur. It shows uncertainty and that an outcome is undecided and could go either way. The hand imitates the outcome which could go this way, or that way.
Cue Cluster: The eyes might squint showing uncertainty, the lips might purse, the lips might be stretched at their corners or the teeth might bear and grit together.
Body Language Category: Illustrators.
Resources:
Axtell, Roger E. Gestures: The Do’s and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. 1997. Wiley.
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Wang, Lin ; Chu, Mingyuan Neuropsychologia. The role of beat gesture and pitch accent in semantic processing: An ERP study. 2013, Vol.51(13), pp.2847-2855.