There is a gesture Italians make by pinching all five fingertips together, pointing them upward, and shaking the hand slightly — often glossed abroad as “chef’s kiss,” though it really means something closer to “what do you want?” or “what are you talking about?” Linguists sometimes call it the mano a borsa, the “purse hand,” and it is only one entry in a repertoire that researchers have counted in the hundreds. This is Guide № 004 in The Love Italy Guide series.
In this guide
- Why Italians Gesture So Much
- The Gestures You Will Actually See
- How Meaning Shifts by Region and Context
- A Short Etiquette for Visitors
- Where the Tradition Comes From
- Myths Worth Retiring
- Frequently Asked Questions
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