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The "Thumbs-Up"

　　While Western culture has become used to the thumbs-up as a good signal(probably coming from World War II pilots using the signal to show that they were "good to go" with ground crews), there are cultures where a thumbs-up may land you in trouble．In West Africa, as well as Greece, Italy and Middle East, the thumbs-up is pretty much the biggest insult(侮辱)．

　　Rather more interesting is a thumbs-up in Germany and in parts of Japan－they just see it as the hand signal for the number one．

The "A-OK"

　　This sign is mainly used by divers(潜水员)to mean "OK"(to prevent being confused with the thumbs-up sign, which means "rise")．Basically the meaning comes out as "great", or "completely fine"．However, in a few countries in Europe, people may think you抮e telling them that you think they抮e a 'zero挘?/P>

The "V Sign"

　　The sign comes in two formats：one with the palm(手掌)faced outwards, and one with the palm inwards．In America they mean the same thing －"victory"．However, if the outside of your hand is facing your target(目标), you抮e giving somebody a long-built insult in Great Britain and many English-speaking countries such as Australia, Ireland and New Zealand．Winston Churchill famously used the "incorrect" version of the V sign during the early years of the war, turning the outside inside later．The V sign is also considered rude in Italy．

The "Corna"

　　The corna hand gesture has most recently been adopted by fans of rock and heavy metal music．Nowadays many Americans use the gesture simply to mean "rock on", or in support of the University of Texas in Austin(known as the "Hook抏m Horns")．Today it is still popular in Spain, Brazil and Slovakia．Historically, however, the symbol possibly dates back to Ancient Greece．