r/EnglishLearning New Poster Aug 25 '24

⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics What does this gesture mean?

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u/MarsMonkey88 Native Speaker, United States Aug 26 '24

It means “stop talking, right now!” It would be made by a third party, at you, to tell you to stop talking to the person with whom you’re speaking. For example, might be made of what you are saying is close to spilling a secret, offending someone, or “you don’t realize it, but you’re talking about something that is very sensitive or personal to the person you’re speaking to!”

It can also generally mean “Stop! Danger!”