Indian mudras can come in handy: The new ‘pinched fingers’ emoji debate shows need for more precise gesticulation

On the face of it, emojis are most handy when communication in words becomes too cumbersome or clumsy. But the current hubbub about the meaning of the ‘pinched fingers’ emoji that will debut along with 116 others later this year on all mobile phones shows that gesticulation can go hand in hand with confusion, often depending on geography. The Italians are claiming first dibs on the emoji as a symbol of their favourite exclamation, “Ma, che vuoi?” or “Whaddya want?!” — without the accompanying up-and-down flick of the wrist signalling exasperation, of course.

Those from West Asia, however, say it is a “wait a minute” or “calm down” gesture. And, in India, the same movement signifies “Wanna eat?”. So, earlier, a hungry Indian tourist in Milan or Muscat using that pinched-fingers sign while asking for a place to eat could have got the same gesture back from befuddled locals in both places. Now she will know better.

Indians are probably the original codifiers and users of palmand-fingers configurations as, well, shorthand for communication. We devised eloquent mudras for classical dance long before universal sign language — a potential resource pool for emojis — was formalised. Given that new emojis are devised, approved and launched every year, the Unicode Consortium could consider delving into our digital diary.