When archers were captured, their enemies would often cut off these two fingers, which was seen as the ultimate insult and worse than being executed since the archer could no longer shoot his bow and arrow. Holding up the index and middle fingers in a “V” shape with the palm facing in is an insult gesture in Britain that basically means “up yours.” This gesture dates back centuries to the period in which the primary weapon of war was the bow and arrow. Just as we can trace the history of a word, or its etymology, we can also trace some nonverbal signals, especially emblems, to their origins. Emblems can be still or in motion for example, circling the index finger around at the side of your head says “He or she is crazy,” or rolling your hands over and over in front of you says “Move on.”
A hitchhiker’s raised thumb, the “OK” sign with thumb and index finger connected in a circle with the other three fingers sticking up, and the raised middle finger are all examples of emblems that have an agreed-on meaning or meanings with a culture. Even though they have a generally agreed-on meaning, they are not part of a formal sign system like ASL that is explicitly taught to a group of people. These are still different from the signs used by hearing-impaired people or others who communicate using American Sign Language (ASL). It would definitely be strange for a speaker to approach an audience member and pick lint off his or her sweater, fix a crooked tie, tuck a tag in, or pat down a flyaway hair in the middle of a speech.Įmblems are gestures that have a specific agreed-on meaning. Other adaptors involve adjusting or grooming others, similar to how primates like chimpanzees pick things off each other. Finally, as noted, other adaptors are more common in social situations than in public speaking situations given the speaker’s distance from audience members.
Smartphones have become common object adaptors, as people can fiddle with their phones to help ease anxiety. Use of object adaptors can also signal boredom as people play with the straw in their drink or peel the label off a bottle of beer. Other people play with dry-erase markers, their note cards, the change in their pockets, or the lectern while speaking. Specifically, I subconsciously gravitate toward metallic objects like paper clips or staples holding my notes together and catch myself bending them or fidgeting with them while I’m speaking. Some self-adaptors manifest internally, as coughs or throat-clearing sounds. Common self-touching behaviors like scratching, twirling hair, or fidgeting with fingers or hands are considered self-adaptors. In public speaking situations, people most commonly use self- or object-focused adaptors. Public speaking students who watch video recordings of their speeches notice nonverbal adaptors that they didn’t know they used. Many of us subconsciously click pens, shake our legs, or engage in other adaptors during classes, meetings, or while waiting as a way to do something with our excess energy. In regular social situations, adaptors result from uneasiness, anxiety, or a general sense that we are not in control of our surroundings. Adaptors can be targeted toward the self, objects, or others. Adaptors are touching behaviors and movements that indicate internal states typically related to arousal or anxiety. There are three main types of gestures: adaptors, emblems, and illustrators (Andersen, 1999).
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