The Human Animal

Watch the DVD. Complete the sentences with a number. Morris talks about:
1. _____________ different handshakes
2. _____________different ways to express ‘You’re crazy.’
Before you watch again, read the program
information.

Watch the DVD again and answer the questions:

1. What does Morris call himself a ‘man watcher’?
2. How long did it take him to complete his classification of human body language?
3. Why do Kurdish farmers in Turkey shake hands for so long? When can they stop?
4. What does Morris say the purpose of handshake is?
5. What are the different ways of saying ‘you’re crazy’?
Discuss: Are there any gestures which would be important for a visitor to your country to
know about?

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 The Human Animal

DM = Desmond Morris
DM: Back in the late 1960s I was sitting ________ _________ ________ restaurant on the island
of Malta talking to my publisher. I drew his attention to the fact that ________ __________
_________ _________ _________ ___________ road there were two men who were
gesticulating in a particular way. The way they were holding their palms to one side was
fascinating me ________ ________ _________: ‘You know, you look at people _______
_________ __________ a bird watcher looks at birds,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I suppose you
__________ _________ _________ a ‘man watcher.’
As soon as I said it, it was as if I fired a starting gun on a major new project, one ________
_______ ______ engross me for many years to come and take me to over sixty different
countries. I was _________ ________ _________ ________ actions what dictionary makers had
done for words. I began making huge charts naming every facial expression, every gesticulation,
every movement, every posture. I kept _________ _________ _________ month after month.
One of the first problems I encountered was that even the simplest human action, such as the
handshake, has countless variations. Sometimes it’s reduced to a mere palm touch, _______
________ ________ Masai elders in East Africa. But in other countries it ________ ________
elaborate. In Mali in West Africa the hand shaker briefly touches his own forearm as the palms
clasp.
In Morocco the hand shakers kiss one another’s hands at the same time as clasping them. and in
Turkey, these Kurdish farmers have taken this simple action and converted ______ _______
_______ amount to a minor ritual. It’s the local rule that they can’t start bargaining until they’re
shaking hands and they have to ________ __________ ________ ________ until the deal is
struck.
The essential feature of hand shaking is that it’s an egalitarian act. Regardless of their social
standing, the two people involved are momentarily performing identical actions.
Despite their variations, ________ _________ greetings have one thing in common: they’re all
fine-tuned to the precise context _______ _________ _________ occur.
Because a single message is given in a different way in different countries. The crazy sign: how
do you say to somebody, ‘You’re crazy?’ Well, here in Rome you do this, but in England I
would probably do this – the temple screw saying, ‘_________ _________ a screw loose,’ – or I
might say ‘his brain is going _________ ________ _________,’ or I might tap my head saying,
‘what ________ _________ think he’s got inside his skull?’ in some countries you do it with two
hands; it varies from place to place and, if you go to Japan you have to be careful because if you
do it this way it means ‘he’s intelligent.’ You have to do it in an anti-clockwise direction in
Japan if you want to say that somebody is crazy. So, all over the world the same message is
given in a slightly different way.

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 The Human Animal

DM: Back in the late 1960s I was sitting in this very restaurant on the island of Malta talking to
my publisher. I drew his attention to the fact that over the other side of the road there were two
men who were gesticulating in a particular way. The way they were holding their palms to one
side was fascinating me and he said: ‘You know, you look at people the way that a bird watcher
looks at birds,’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I suppose you could call me a ‘man watcher.’
As soon as I said it, it was as if I fired a starting gun on a major new project, one that was to
engross me for many years to come and take me to over sixty different countries. I was going to
do for actions what dictionary makers had done for words. I began making huge charts naming
every facial expression, every gesticulation, every movement, every posture. I kept at it for
month after month. One of the first problems I encountered was that even the simplest human
action, such as the handshake, has countless variations. Sometimes it’s reduced to a mere palm
touch, as with these Masai elders in East Africa. But in other countries it becomes more
elaborate. In Mali in West Africa the hand shaker briefly touches his own forearm as the palms
clasp.
In Morocco the hand shakers kiss one another’s hands at the same time as clasping them. and in
Turkey, these Kurdish farmers have taken this simple action and converted it into what amount
to a minor ritual. It’s the local rule that they can’t start bargaining until they’re shaking hands
and they have to keep on doing so until the deal is struck.
The essential feature of hand shaking is that it’s an egalitarian act. Regardless of their social
standing, the two people involved are momentarily performing identical actions.
Despite their variations, all these greetings have one thing in common: they’re all fine-tuned to
the precise context in which they occur.
Because a single message is given in a different way in different countries. The crazy sign: how
do you say to somebody, ‘You’re crazy?’ Well, here in Rome you do this, but in England I
would probably do this – the temple screw saying, ‘he’s got a screw loose,’ – or I might say ‘his
brain is going round and round,’ or I might tap my head saying, ‘what does he think he’s got
inside his skull?’ in some countries you do it with two hands; it varies from place to place and, if
you go to Japan you have to be careful because if you do it this way it means ‘he’s intelligent.’
You have to do it in an anti-clockwise direction in Japan if you want to say that somebody is
crazy. So, all over the world the same message is given in a slightly different way.

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 The Human Animal

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 The Human Animal

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