Giving someone 'the finger' in Japanese Sign Language doesn't mean what you think it does
The seemingly rude gesture is just a normal word when you put it into context - but can you guess what it means?
It might seem like a rude gesture to us - but giving someone 'the finger' simply means 'brother' when you put it into the context of Japanese Sign Language.
Sticking up one middle finger is translated as 'ani' or 兄 which means 'older brother'.
Alternating two middle fingers in the air can be translated as 'kyoudai' or 兄弟 which simply means 'siblings'.
And while the Western world might attach a very different meaning to this gesture, it has never been known as a profanity in Japan.
Connotations: This gesture doesn't mean what you think it does
Japanese children are taught to attach names to all the fingers, according to Kotaku.com.
For example, the thumb is the 'father finger', the index finger is the 'mother finger', the middle finger is the brother finger', the ring finger is the 'sister finger' and the little finger is the 'baby finger'.
However, while the middle finger might not actually mean something as crude as it does in American or English culture, many Japanese people are now more than aware of the double meaning after the gesture has emerged in films and music videos.
