Today on my matutinal two mile hike around the block, I saw an Hispanic lady raking the gutter in front of her apartment. Without stopping to think that she might be unable to understand, I gave her the gesture made by both hands clasped above head level, intended to mean "Well done" which I think had its origin in umpire raising boxer's hand in his, to signify he was the victor. Fortunately the Hispanic lady appeared to understand, and gave me a beatific smile.
It occurred to me that there are a lot of gestures that used to be common, that I have not seen for a long time.
For one, a whittling motion of one index finger against the other to mean "shame on you." No idea how it originated.
It has been a long time since I saw one kid thumb his nose at another,or stick his tongue out at another.
There remains one other gesture of insolent defiance which I need not describe as it is all too prevalent.
I hope some of you may be able to remember others and post comments.