Talk Description to Me
Talk Description to Me
Episode 7 - Jazz Hands 101
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Jazz hands, sign of the horns, okay hand - these aren’t just frivolous emojis, they come from oft-used nonverbal gestures. Don’t try listening to this episode while rolling sushi or applying eye-liner, because you’re going to need your hands to follow along as JJ helps us "make it rain", and play the world’s smallest violin.
Talk description to me with Christine Malec and JJ hunt. [inaudible]
ChristineHi, I'm Christine Malec,
JJAnd I'm JJ hunt. This is talk description to M where the visuals of current events and the world around us get hashed out in description, rich conversations,
Drop the mic
ChristineA friend of mine, Ronda in Toronto, who's visually impaired. She and I were talking about public speaking and she referred to something that was new to her, which was also new to me. I'd never heard this. It's a phrase which is dropping the mic. And so she had to explain to me that it's a way of someone who has been speaking emphatically to make a gesture, to indicate that they have said their piece and they are done and they have nothing more. They don't want to argue. They don't want to equivocate. There they've said what they intend to say and they're finished. So I of course, went to JJ and I said, what does this mean? What is this about? I've never heard of this in my life. So JJ, what does it all mean?
JJYeah. Drop the mic is, is a really good, powerful, very cocky gesture. And I mean, it starts with an, with an actual dropping of the mic, right? If you are on stage and you've got a microphone, a handheld microphone, and you're giving your speech, you're singing your song, whatever it is and when you're done. So the way it started when you're, when you're done your song, your speech, whatever you take the mic in your hand, and you extend your arms straight out in front of you and you turn your hand to the side. So now the microphone is parallel to the , to the ground. And then you just open your hand, you open your hand wide and, and with your arms stretched straight out in front of you, that microphone drops straight to the floor and lands with a thud and maybe a squeal. Maybe you get like a bit of feedback or something. So it is, as you say, you are done, the microphone is on the floor. I've said, my piece , you cannot respond. The microphone is on the floor and you walk away dropping the mic, but now you don't. Now people do that without obviously holding a microphone. You're not actually giving a speech. So if you have said your piece not only do you not want to say anything else, cause you've made your point. You don't want anyone else to speak. Now you just do the action. So a person will, without holding a mic, put their arm straight out open up their hand as if they're dropping a mic. And sometimes they'll say boom, or sometimes they'll just leave it and be quiet about it.
ChristineOkay. So I'm doing it right now. So I've got my arm stretch in front of, I'm making a fist as though there's a microphone in it. And my thumb is pointing up. I'm turning my fist on my thumbs pointing sideways, opening my fingers. Is that right?
JJThat's right. So you're making a fist by the time you're releasing the the microphone, your knuckles are up and your Palm in a closed fist is face down. Yeah . And then you open up your hand. Boom.
ChristineIs it always done in a defiant way or are there different spirits in which that gesture is made?
JJOh, well that's a good question. It's generally a pretty cocky action. Like, I mean, you can be a little playful about it if you're, if you're amongst friends, but I mean, what you're playing on, what you're riffing on is the fact that like, listen, I said it it's done move on. You know what I mean? Like you're playing on that kind of cockiness.
Jazz Hands
JJKim in Ottawa was wondering
ChristineJazz hands. And so we kind of get that it's celebratory, but , but can you, can you break that down?
JJYeah. Jazz hands. So jazz hands is like a there's a, there's a, you know , there's a snazziness to it. It comes from like Bob Fossey dance moves on in, in Broadway shows. There's a, there's a particular way of moving your body and moving your hands. So shall we all do? So we do like a , like a jazz hands lesson here that might be,
ChristineMy arms are completely waving around they're ready.
JJExcellent. What I , what I really hope is that there's some listener on a, on a bus somewhere and they've decided they're going to do Jazz Hands lessons than everyone on the bus is watching. I guess that's my hope.
ChristinePlease! Please do that . And then put on our Facebook page or something that you did and don't lie, don't lie.
JJAlright . So with jazz hands, what you want to do is you want to hold up both of your hands with your palms facing out. So arms straight palms out, kind of as if you're telling someone to stop,
ChristineHave your arms out from your sides, like your elbow straight?
JJSo your arms straight in front of you, your hands up and in front of you facing forward palms facing forward. So imagine you're saying "stop stop" , like that , right? And you want your fingers kind of spread a little bit relaxed, but spread. Now, what you want to do is you want to pull your elbows back all the way back so that your hands are now at your sides. So your hands are still palms out fingers more at your chest, shoulders, chest. That's right. So they're there and your elbows are kind of back. So maybe your chest is out a little bit, but it's not an elbows are back. Your hands are there. Now you want to maybe tip your hands out so that your pinkies are going closer to the floor. So you're at like a 45 degree angle there. Okay . Right. Got it. And now here's where the real jazz hands get started. You want to oscillate your hands at the wrist . So imagine you are screwing in an unscrewing, a light bulb that kind of oscillating back and forth, right? So you go one direction than the other. So unloosen the light bulb. Screw it back in, loosen the light bulb. Screw it back in.
ChristineWait, I'm not getting it because my index and thumb are not clutched. So do you mean your wrists side to side or your wrists rotating?
JJExactly, your wrists are rotating. So you want that rotating action, even though your hands are still spread, even though your fingers are spread, you want that kind of rotating, twisting action.
ChristineYou're not pronating your forearm. Like you're not turning your forearms. It's just the ,
JJIt's just about the wrists,
ChristineRotating, but your fingers are straight.
JJYour fingers are kind of spread. They're still spread and you want to do this at a speed. Like you're rattling a tambourine - chk-chk-chk - like that.
ChristineOk, but wait. So, left hand is going clockwise and my right hand is going counterclockwise. Is that right?
JJI would want them going back and forth, back and forth. Both of them. So you're like twist, twist, twist, twist, twist, twist, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
ChristineBut in the same direct , I can't believe we're going down this rabbit hole. My God. Okay. So hold on.
JJOkay .
ChristineAre they turning both clockwise or is one clockwise in one counterclockwise ?
JJOh, that's interesting. See , I hadn't even thought of that.
ChristineDon't make us look like total idiots . So bus bus lady, right ? Who you made do this on the bus. Looks like a -
JJNot only is she doing jazz hands. Just doing bad jazz hands!
ChristineWhat is she doing?! Help out this nice lady on the bus.
JJOkay . So if I were doing this, so I would, I would be doing first is going like out and then in, so turning away and then turning back towards center. Does that make sense?
ChristineSo there is a little forearm, so your thumbs are kind of moving, but I think I'm getting it now.
JJSo there has to be some movement in your forearm, but it's , but it's , the idea is not to move that far -
ChristineThe big movement is in your hands .
JJExactly. It's that it's that, that rattle.
ChristineSo the palms are sort of forward. They go out, they go in, they go out, they go in.
JJTwisting, twisting, twisting. And again, it's like at the, at the speed as if you were shaking a tambourine. So, so what you're really doing when you're doing this, like properly, it's a fast action. Put your hands at your side and go "Cha!" And that by the way is really essential. When you're doing jazz hands, it's mouth open wide, eyes open wide. There's like a bit of a, like a cheeky smile, like ha . And it's quick. It's probably just like, like last three seconds or something . You flash it.
ChristineThis is making sense. Please, if someone has tried it, let us know in some way, because I want to hear about your experience because I'm in the privacy of my own, you know, front room . Drapes closed. Like give us the feedback. We want to know
Okay hand
Christinewhat is the okay hand.
JJOkay. So, okay . A pretty simple. So you've got your thumb and your and your index finger and you , and you link them. So now you're making an Oh , okay . And then your other fingers are kind of loose, but but maybe up in the air a little bit. So, so you're just making an O at people like that, a ring .
ChristineWould that also be a way to say zero? Like if someone says, Oh, how much did you make in tips last night? And you did that gesture. Would that mean zero?
JJYeah. That would be, it would be the same gesture. Now. It's different things. If you twist that, if you twist your Palm, if you do it upside down, if you do it sideways, then it gets kind of political. Oh yeah. And in different parts of the world, my, my kids, we did some traveling recently and they really wanted to go to a country where that OK . Sign actually means a part of your anatomy. And they really wanted it to go to a place where that was
ChristineRead the guidebooks.
JJDon't flash the okay sign internationally, unless you really know where you are!
ChristineOh,
Sign of the horns
ChristineI want to talk about one that has always amused me for a couple of reasons, which is the sign of the horns. So there's two reasons why I like this one. Historically I know that it is a gesture that people would make an it's kind of viewed as a superstitious pagan thing, but I , I personally kind of reclaim it because I often feel the need to protect myself from evil. I'll just be honest about that. It's a weird, scary world, and it's getting a bit stranger every day . So I personally, psychologically, sometimes want to just do some little thing to feel like I'm protecting myself from evil, which yeah. Okay. So but it's also, I understand a bit of a gestural Anthem for, for rock and roll music. And the third thing is bill and Ted, but we won't go there too. I love bill and Ted, and I'm pretty excited for them , but so can you give some context for what the gesture looks like and where you might see?
JJYeah, so definitely like at a concert or something in the same way that there's a black power salute where you put your fist in the air, this is a gesture where if you're at a concert and you're going , yeah, man, you're going to do this gesture and throw your arms straight in the air. Maybe stick your tongue out. Yeah . That kind of, that's what it feels like is that kind of sound way to make the gesture. So again, Palm out , you want to take your you leave your pinky and your index finger up and you put your two middle fingers down. Yep . There's your horns. Those are the two horns. And then fold your thumb over the fingers that are, that are bent and down. So kind of the thumb is just kind of keeping them in place. And that's that now you've got the horns, the horns are straight up. So you've got your pinky and your pointer straight up and you've got your the middle two fingers being held down, bent and held down by your thumb.
ChristineThere's an emoji for that. Does it look like that? Yeah.
JJYeah. It's exactly right. The emoji is a, the emoji is exactly that.
Restaurant gestures
ChristineAwesome. I've gotten the sense from being out with sighted friends, that there are a set of gestures, completely nonverbal and silent for restaurant etiquette. So communicating to your server that you want the bill, or you want to order, or I don't, I don't know what they all are, but can, can you go over a few of those?
JJYeah. That's so that's interesting. Okay. So if you're in a crowded restaurant and you're, and you need to bill, but you don't want to yell over a crowd of people when you get the attention of your server, you know, you flag them down, somehow you wave your hand in the air. And what you can do is just imagine you're holding a pen and your fingers, and you kind of just write a few of , you know, just scribble right in the air check, please. So you just make that kind of squiggly, like writing in the air gesture. That means check please.
ChristineI love how that's kind of archaic now, but the gesture still lives on.
JJYeah, that's right. Yeah. Because writing, who's going to write your bill? Doesn't happen. Yeah , that's right. And then the same kind of thing. If you want to, if the crowded restaurant is kind of loud and you haven't gotten your menus yet you can kind of get the, get the server's attention, put your hands together. Like you're you know, like you're praying and then open and close them like a book. Can I go , can I get the menu? Oh, wow. Yeah. Cool.
ChristineI understand waiving your card now as a modern, like holding up your, is that a thing or is there a tapping gesture maybe like pressing on a , tapping on a key pad ? Or is that not a thing yet?
JJOh, well not , not for my generation.
ChristineNot yet. Maybe there's new ones coming
JJThat's all right. I'm sure somewhere down the line, someone's going to have like a, you know, can you transfer me a, I don't know what the gesture for e-transfer is,
Money gestures
JJand then there are some for just money. So you may or may not use this in a restaurant setting, but maybe you're going to use these. Like, if you're talking about like, you know, it's time to pay me or do you know how much money did that cost? There's a gesture that sometimes goes with the discussion of money, which is the rubbing of fingers. So it's Palm up. And you keep your index finger pardon me? Yeah. Okay . So you got your index finger and the next finger sticking straight out and you bend your ring finger and your pinky in, towards your Palm. So that two fingers pointed out and the two fingers curl to your Palm, and then you bring your thumb forward. So it touches the two fingers that are, that are pointing out, just kinda rubbed together. And that just
ChristineIt's like from your thumb up and down or sideways,
JJEither way, you're just kind of rubbing your thumb against those two extended fingers, which are kind of curled back to meet your thumb. Right. And that rubbing there, I'm not sure exactly where it comes from
ChristineI've got a really good guess. I bet it's. I bet it eludes to testing the solidity of a coin. Rubbing a coin between your fingers, like, is this real.
JJThat's right. And it's the expression "She doesn't have two coins to rub together". Right. So you've got that. I also read somewhere that maybe it's about the separating two bills that are stuck together. Oh , there's a similar, but I like the coin. That one makes sense. Yeah .
ChristineWhat about the playing, what is it? The expression is I'm playing my miniature violin for you.
JJYes. It's exactly the same. It's the same gesture, but maybe yeah, maybe you bring it a little close and put it to your shoulder, you know what this ,
ChristineYeah . So if you use your right hand, you'd bring it to your left shoulder, I think. Is that right?
JJNo , I would just bring it closer. Like I would just kind of bend my elbow and get closer, but you don't even have to do that. Really. You can just hold up as long as you're rubbing your fingers together. It's like, you know what I'm doing? I'm playing the world's smallest.
ChristineIt's in context. I guess that's one of those contexts .
JJTotally. Yeah. And then the last one that I love, that's a little bit saucy and I didn't realize how saucy it was until I started doing research for this is the gesture that I didn't even know what it was called. So it's actually called make it rain. And the idea is you're throwing money around. So if you're making a again, you're making kind of an arrogant, like I got so much money, I'm going to throw it around. Or I bet that cost a lot of my bet . You had to throw in a lot of money at that. Right. So what you do is you hold a Palm facing up. So handout Palm up and imagine you've got a big stack of bills on there . So you take your other hand and you swipe one hand across the Palm across this imaginary stack of bills as if you're shooting them off. Boom, boom, boom, boom, one or two at a time. Right? So you're flicking one hand over the Palm to say that you are throwing money at a situation, your throat you've thrown out a lot of money. And so that's called make it rain. And what I learned in my research, I kind of had some idea where it came from, but I didn't realize exactly. This is a gesture that originated in strip clubs. When people were throwing lots of money at strippers, it's called making it rain. And in fact, it was popularized in a 2006 song of the same name, make it rain by Fat Joe featuring Lil Wayne.
ChristineHow would you make that? Not look like you're trying to brush crumbs out of your palm. Like I'm doing the gesture. And I feel like I'm just brushing cookie crumbs off myself or something.
JJIt's exactly what it looks like. And it's funny, it's only because sighted people know that that's what it means. Otherwise it's exactly the same. Like if you didn't, if you didn't know that gesture meant I'm throwing money around you, you would look at that person and say, why are you brushing, crumbs off your hand? I don't understand. It looks exactly right .
ChristineLike, is this something I could do in front of my brother? Or does everyone know it's a stripper gesture?
JJI don't think they , I think the the understanding that it kind of came from like rap songs and like throwing money around. That is well known, but I don't know how many people know that it came from that it was popularized, you know , from strip clubs. But maybe it's just me being out of touch and naive, but I would certainly be comfortable using that again, if you're in a casual like, Oh man, I had to throw so much money at that. Oh , my car broke . And I had to, you know , took it to the thing. And then someone might say like, Oh yeah, you know, the cost a fortune. And they might make that gesture. You know, that, that would be the context in which you would , you would use it.
ChristineI might not use it in a professional context until I do a little informal survey of sighted friends. Before I try that, don't try this at work.
JJDon't try this at work! Try it on the bus and take a selfie if you wouldn't mind, but...
ChristineHave feedback or suggestions of what you'd like to hear about. Here's how to get in touch with us. Our email address is talk description to me@gmail.com. Our Facebook page is called talk description to me. And our website is talk description to me.com. You can follow us on Twitter at talk description.