Are there any universal hand or facial gestures?

No, there are no universal hand or face gestures. Even things you might assume are universal are in fact interpreted in different ways in different cultures. The thumbs up gesture has at least five different meanings depending where you are, ranging from ok to something rude. read more

"The gestures that people produce when they speak are not universal but vary as a function of language - in some ways, this makes the phenomenon we're describing that much more interesting since speakers of different languages routinely use their hands in different ways but, when asked to talk with their hands and not their mouths, they all end up looking alike," said Prof Susan Goldin-Meadow. read more