So, couple of days back while sitting at a coffee shop, I observed two people talking in the table nearby. There was quite a bit of animated head nodding and arms flailing. And then there was the gestures.. I was also able to hear the conversation [no i was not eves dropping, they were loud]. The guy had his arms spread out on either side and was referring to a person with “big” as a prefix.  The girl then smiled and replied “Ah, yes, I know him.. have met him at xyz event… la la la”…  This got me thinking…. 
Why
is it that when you are referring to someone and need the other person to
understand- you use hand signs and gestures? It is so they will identify the
shape or figure right? While am fine with using these for things and places, it
irks me to no end when people use them for other people. Spreading hands wide
on either side to show a “big” person, or one hand above the head to show
“tall” and showing the pinky finger when we are talking about someone lean/skinny and so on… I find it offensive and 
it is also according to me body shaming… 
I get that it is the easiest way to get someone to identify the person one is talking about, but heck it is not right…  Imagine if you were referring to someone’s size and that person happens to walk by , they would definitely be shocked and hurt… 
You
might not mean to insult or hurt the person, but you are… Infact there is a
family our families have known forever and the man’s name has a prefix “gundu”
[fat]…  It all began eons ago, mainly cos
this man and another uncle share the same name. So in order to differentiate or
specify who you are talking about, you need a distinct word or nickname… since
this man was big built, conveniently people added the prefix “gundu” to his
name… now even though he is no longer big, and the other uncle has passed away, the tag has stuck on… 

                                                 
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