I rarely, if ever, do it and I'm more than a little curious as to what makes people do it. Some people are really animated with hand gestures while telling stories or trying to explain something and it can become pretty annoying. I really don't think some people are conscious of it as they are doing it. Do you talk with your hands or have someone close to you who does so on a consistent basis?
I talk with my hands a lot. Back in 8th grade, my right hand and I formed a very special relationship.
I enjoy pointing out that doing signs with your hand--unless you're doing sign language--is useless when people do it. For example, my uncle was talking to someone and giving them directions over the phone... and he goes "oh, yeah, and then you turn on main street... yeah... main street... it's over here" and when he says "over here" he points with his hand. I say to him when he's done : "Uhhh... you know... they can't see you over the phone..." But I do talk with my hands off and on. Every now and then, I catch myself and don't do it.
I've talked with my hands, so to speak, since I lived in Italy for four years. When you learn to speak Italian, or whatever Romance language, you tend to pick up the habit, I guess. When I came back to the States, I had to say more than once, "No, I'm not gay, I'm just faux Italian." This is where posters say, "No, dude, you're just in denial." :=D What is that old joke, if you want to shut up an Italian, just tie his hands together?
My grandfather was full blooded Italian. His parents were born and raised in Italy. He talked with his hands and passed that on to my mother who passed it on to me.
While obviously the Italians, especially southern Italians, use a lot of hand gestures, I don't think it is a purely cultural thing. I think some people do it instinctively. Neither my wife nor I use our hands much in talking, but my son does it all the time. While I am part Italian, it is probably not a genetic thing since my son was adopted from Novosibirsk and the Russians are not known for the hand gestures. He does have some short-term memory and recall issues so Mrs. Valdez' article is interesting.
