{"id":2939,"date":"2016-07-22T17:36:03","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T09:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/?p=2939"},"modified":"2021-07-04T21:09:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-04T13:09:14","slug":"understanding-filipinos-through-body-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/2016\/07\/22\/understanding-filipinos-through-body-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Filipinos Through Body Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Filipino culture, the use of body language and hand gestures are very common in daily communication. If you\u2019re an expat living in the Philippines, you would want to familiarize yourself with these common gestures to avoid any misunderstanding. Here are a few common forms of non-verbal communication and what they mean in the Philippines.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Mano or Pagmamano<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"mano-po-lola\"<\/span><\/p>\n

IMAGE from\u00a0<\/em>thinkingwithb<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMano\u201d is the Spanish word for \u201chand,\u201d while \u201cpo\u201d is a Filipino term\u00a0used as a sign of respect. It is done by taking the hand of the elder and gently tapping it to one’s forehead while saying \u201cmano po.\u201d This is usually done by someone younger to show respect to the elders and as a way of accepting a blessing from them. Mano<\/em> is also unofficially called “bless” by some Filipinos.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Lip Pointing<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"lippointing\"<\/span><\/p>\n

IMAGE from\u00a0becomingfilipino<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of lifting a hand or finger or arm, which uses unnecessary energy, Filipinos sometimes use their pouting lips to point at a certain object or direction instead. Many foreigners find this funny and confusing, but this gesture is very common and unique to Filipinos. When you see a Filipino do this, don’t confuse it with an invite for a kiss!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3. Nodding and raising eyebrows with a smile<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"greeting\"<\/span><\/p>\n

SCREENSHOT from Rex Navarrete Teaches Us How To Spot Pinoys Anywhere In The World<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is one way of how Filipinos greet each other in a casual and quick way, acknowledging that you saw that person. This gesture is sometimes followed with a friendly tap in the shoulder if they are within reach.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Arms extended while lowering the head<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"extendedarm\"<\/span><\/p>\n

SCREENSHOT\u00a0from Rex Navarrete Teaches Us How To Spot Pinoys Anywhere In The World<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

These gestures are commonly done when passing in front of two people talking to each other or crossing a room when someone\u2019s watching a TV. Followed by an \u201cexcuse me,\u201d this gesture is seen as a sign of courtesy and respect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

5. Drawing a rectangular or square shape in the air using the hands<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"menu1\"<\/span><\/p>\n

SCREENSHOT\u00a0from Rex Navarrete Teaches Us How To Spot Pinoys Anywhere In The World<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is commonly done by the Filipinos in restaurants when asking for the menu or bill. To get the waiter\u2019s attention, Filipinos tend to make a square shape in the air with their hands high in the air to ask for the menu and a rectangular shape for the bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

6. Silent looks<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\"angry-parents-e1342154012627\"<\/span><\/p>\n

IMAGE from keyword-suggestions.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Usually, when Filipino parents give this fiery-eyes-silent-look to their child, it automatically means that the child should stop whatever he\/she is doing. This is one way of Filipino parents to warn or control their children in public without negatively catching many people\u2019s attention.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Youtube<\/a>; insights-philippines.de<\/a>; mymovetothephilippines.com<\/a>; hagonoy-bahay-kubo.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Primer Philippines lists some of the most common body languages Filipinos use when communicating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1730],"tags":[1663,1662,174,1661,1412,1660],"class_list":["post-2939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-and-history","tag-body-language","tag-communication","tag-filipino","tag-non-verbal-gestures","tag-pagmamano","tag-pinoy-body-language"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2939"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9300,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2939\/revisions\/9300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primer.com.ph\/tips-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}