I'm not sure what they do in Northern India (I didn't go up there), but I know that the people I met in Southern India are Tamil, and that the people up north are something else (what exactly, I don't know).
I've heard my coworkers explain several times what the difference is between the side-to-side "yes" and the side-to-side "no" (their sign for no looks just like ours), and I get a lot of different explanations that don't really hold water. Some say it's how far to each side they go. Some say it's straight for no and wobbly for yes. Some say it's fast for no and slow for yes. Watching them do it, they really don't differ so much or in predictable ways that I can tell.
The way I use to tell which is which is that they're usually smiling for yes and not smiling for no.
Oh, and when they say "atcha atcha atcha" they're thinking about what you said, not necessarily agreeing with it.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2008-02-03 04:26 pm (UTC)I've heard my coworkers explain several times what the difference is between the side-to-side "yes" and the side-to-side "no" (their sign for no looks just like ours), and I get a lot of different explanations that don't really hold water. Some say it's how far to each side they go. Some say it's straight for no and wobbly for yes. Some say it's fast for no and slow for yes. Watching them do it, they really don't differ so much or in predictable ways that I can tell.
The way I use to tell which is which is that they're usually smiling for yes and not smiling for no.
Oh, and when they say "atcha atcha atcha" they're thinking about what you said, not necessarily agreeing with it.