Eat, Drink and Mime

Eat, drink and sign - and no, I don't just mean signing off a credit card bill. Have you ever noticed how you would usually ask for the bill? Did you wave an imaginary pen in the air and the restaurant staff magically understood what you wanted? When and how did you learn that?

Chances are you've seen other people do it and you followed suit. So much so, that with many of the hand signals, head nods and other non-verbal signals we send, we seemed to have evolved a 'vocabulary' just for ordering food! I never quite realized how much non-verbal communication actually takes place during a meal until a non-local friend asked what a cupped hand with all 5 fingers pointing skyward meant (…bowl of rice, silly!). "Well, how was I to know?" he retorted.

Consider a typical meal at a cze-cha outlet:

You walk in, and someone will ask you: "Table for how many?" You indicate a table for five with ….that's right, your hand with five fingers spread out. Then, you ask for the menu (assuming you're not terribly familiar with what they serve) and that means drawing a rectangle with thumb and index fingers of both hands. Once you place your orders, conversation around the table gets into swing.

As the meal progresses, you'd inevitably want a glass of water (thumb and index spread apart, thumb at bottom). Or a bowl of rice (one hand, cupped) and if you want a larger portion of rice (2 hands cupped together, fingers spread to indicate a big bowl). An extra order of this or that (point at the dish and indicate 1 or 2 with fingers) or request to top up the teapot (thumb as the spout, pouring motion). And finally, that flourish of the hand for the bill to be paid.

It's all as simple as ABC isn't it? But it takes practice and some sense of the cultural implications, I think. The same friend tried asking for the menu once, and ended with the bill instead. And somehow, he just couldn't get the "bowl of rice" move quite right and it ended up hilariously obscene. I remember trying to do that head shake (you know, that slight tilt of the head and wiggle of chin when Indians talk to you? No offense, I hope) while ordering dinner in Bombay and um…. it just wasn't quite right either.

Another interesting episode at the hawker center: I was in line (aren't all Singaporeans just so orderly?!) at a mee pok stall. The lady in front stepped up, and without a single word, ordered her food.

Hawker: "Mee kia ta?" (noodles, dry?)
Lady: Nods.
Hawker: "Hiam mye?" (any chilli?)
Lady: Nods. Points to the bean sprouts and waves hand.
Hawker: "Mye towgay?" (no bean sprouts?)
Lady: Nods.
Hawker: "Gui hoh?" (what table number?)
[ Ah hah!…she must answer now, I thought.]
Lady: Points to a table not far off and walks off.
Hawker looks at her, and quickly jots down "red" in Mandarin.

I chuckled because the lady was in a bright red blouse. At least it wasn't 'old' or 'fat' or one of those descriptions that hawkers tag customers with, and then loudly proclaim when they can't find the customer.

Communication theory tells us that non-verbals constitute 55% of meaning in communication. On top of which, Singaporeans are noted for being really frugal with words and terse to the point of being rude. Is it any wonder then, that we have developed a hand-language centered around our favorite past time? Watch yourself (or others) in action the next time - it can be really funny!

Text by Grace Teo