When Beverly Hills Cop opened in Brazil, there were huge posters outside theaters that showed Eddie Murphy flashing his trademark “okay” sign. Little did Eddie know, he was pretty much making an obscene gesture in Brazil that is equivalent to giving someone “the finger” in the USA. Very few Brazilians went to see the movie until the PR people finally caught on and the poster was modified.

I always assumed that there were a few universal gestures that would mean the same thing no matter where I was in the world. You know, things like using your thumb to hitchhike or shaking your head to indicate “no”. As it turns out (and I learned the hard way), these signals can have VERY different meanings depending on where in the world you are.

The way you shake your head to say “no” in America actually means “yes” in Bulgaria. Holding your thumb out to hitchhike can mean “up yours” in Turkey; a dangerous mistake to make when you are standing on theg ...