Italian gestures

🤌 THE ULTIMATE ITALIAN GESTURE

Abroad, it’s how they imitate us. In Italy, we use it to say things like “What does it mean?” or “What do you want?”

But in Naples, if the hand spins on itself, the meaning shifts completely. It becomes “Chiò Chiò”,  a playful way to say someone’s been fooled, believed something silly, or totally misunderstood the situation.

“You’re such a Chiò Chiò!”

A friendly tease, somewhere between a scolding and a pat on the back.

🤘 THE HORNS: LUCK OR INSULT?

This gesture has two very different uses:

To ward off bad luck, especially in Southern Italy — a quiet but powerful form of superstition.

Or as an insult, suggesting someone’s been cheated on.

Legend has it that it all goes back to the myth of the Minotaur: born of betrayal, with horns on his head. And in Crete, they say that when the people wanted to remind King Minos of it... all they had to do was make the gesture.