Man tries ‘hand gesture game’ on his family and is shocked by what he discovers
A man who asked his family to complete a common hand gesture has gone viral after the test uncovered a shock truth about kids today.
If you want to feel old, just ask a child to make a hand gesture as if they were pretending to talk on the phone.
From landlines, to “brick” mobile phones and now to smartphones — the look and shape of phones has changed dramatically, so it was only a matter of time before the universal gesture for talking on the phone changed too. Right?
The traditional and totally correct way to make a hand gesture is with the pinky and thumb up, three middle fingers down, and hand held up to the face.
But the younger generation have a totally different symbol.
The discovery came about after a father-of-two filmed his wife and two kids taking part in the “hand gesture game” with mind-boggling results.
“This is how you know you’re getting old and this is for my ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s babies — watch OK,” Daniel Alvarado said in his TikTok video before turning to his wife.
“OK babe, pretend you’re talking on the phone, what would be your hand gesture?” he asks.
Without hesitation, his wife mimics the universal way — pinky and thumb gesture to her ear and mouth.
The New York City dad then turns his attention to his daughter and son, interrupting them both as they played on their phones to ask, “What would be your hand gesture?”.
Both children held their hand flat against their ear, indicating they are talking on a smartphone.
Mr Alvarado turned the camera back on himself, saying, “So all of us would go like this (showing the pinky and thumb gesture), but now the new generation goes like this (with his hand pressed to his ear)”.
He concluded the video, which has been viewed nearly two million times in just a day, showing that his mind was blown — and it appears he’s not the only one.
Thousands of people weighed in on his kids’ response.
“This is actually mind blowing...and sad lol,” one woman commented.
“I do it the same way the first person did it,” said another, referring to Ms Alvarado’s wife’s gesture.
“My six-year-old does the full hand gesture,” a third commented, with a fourth person saying, “I don’t like this, nope not one bit.”
One woman was also in complete shock after trying it on her family.
“I TRIED IT ON MY MOM AND YOUNGER SISTER AND ITS TRUE OMG (sic),” she yelled.
However, not everyone agrees, with some of the younger generations arguing they never use the “flat” way.
“2001 here and I do the two finger one I’ve never seen anyone do that flat hand.”
“Lol I’m 19, still use the old phone gesture. I had to have been at least 11 when my dad bought the first gen iPhone,” a female teen said.
“My son is 13 and did it right (pinky, thumb). He was like, ‘Uh, you hear on one end and talk into the other’. He didn’t understand why I was shocked when he got it,” a mum added.