High five!

Don’t get caught doing these 12 common gestures outside of the U.S.

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It is often said that body language transcends borders. And that is quite true to a great extent. But not always. At least not when it comes to the silent gestures that we use to express a myriad of different things. What is perceived as a friendly gesture here might be seen as a very rude insult in other places. So, take a look at the following 12 cases and remember them, just in case!

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The classic thumbs-up sign represents approval, agreement, or satisfaction within American and European cultures.

But, in many Asian countries, it is seen as a major insult, and it can be offensive to anyone on the receiving end.

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This simple summoning gesture, done by curling the index finger towards the palm, is well known within the U.S.

However, don't attempt to use this gesture in the Philippines, where it is considered to be one of the most offensive gestures one can make and can result in you being punished with broken fingers or arrested.

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Shaking your head up and down is used to say "yes" and shaking it sideways, "no". This is the case in most countries.

But in places like Bulgaria and Greece, these two gestures are reversed, which can be very confusing to anyone visiting for the first time.

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Crossing the arms over the chest is a quite common gesture without much meaning in most countries.

However, in Finland, this posture is viewed as a huge sign of arrogance. Standing with this posture can get you into a fight or make people dislike you.

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Primarily to the 1960s, this hand gesture was mostly used to indicate "victory" but, during the Vietnam War and the hippie era, this sign became associated with the concept of "peace", and it is now commonly known as the "peace sign".

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The OK sign is a common hand gesture throughout the English-speaking world and is typically used to say that everything is going well.

However, in New Zealand, it is used to call out a lazy person, and in Australia, it’s used to express the number "zero."

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Within most English-speaking countries, extending your pinky finger is a way to initiate a pinky swear, which means that someone is making a heartfelt and genuine promise.

But, in certain Asian countries, pointing outward with your pinky is considered a rude gesture and is best to be avoided.

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Crossing one’s fingers expresses a wish for good luck in the U.S. and most English-speaking countries.

But crossing one’s fingers behind one’s back expresses insincerity while making a promise.

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In most Western countries, holding up the index finger signifies "number one" or "first place."

However, in Greece, Russia, and the Middle East, holding up the index finger is considered rude and can be interpreted as an insult or even a threat.

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The "horns" gesture, done by extending the index and pinky finger, is a common hand gesture in the U.S., especially in the heavy metal and rock music scene, meaning "rock on".

But in many countries, like Italy, Portugal, and Brazil, this same gesture can be interpreted as an accusation of infidelity.

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While holding your extended index and thumb at a 90-degree angle over your forehead is used to say that somebody else is a loser, that is not the case in China, where it symbolizes something else completely: a number eight.

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Raising the pinky finger alone is commonly used to parody a snob attitude. It is a cheeky gesture that is not to be taken seriously, at least in most Western cultures.

In China, however, extending your pinky finger indicates that you think little of the person you're speaking to and is considered quite rude.

YOU SAY GAS MARK, I SAY FAHRENHEIT

How many kilometers in a mile? 10 measures that vary across the world

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While using the same measurement units in an increasingly globalized world seems like a great idea, putting this notion into practice is a logistical nightmare of universal proportions. This challenge arises because human societies have evolved separately for most of history, developing their own measurement systems and structuring their worlds around them. That is why we have miles and kilometers, kilograms and pounds, Celsius and Fahrenheit, and so on. We don’t know if the Big Unification of Measures will ever happen, but until then, we’ve created this short list of ten popular measurements used worldwide. Scroll on to see which ones you use!

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Believe it or not, both miles and kilometers literally mean "thousand" in their respective origins. Miles belong to the Imperial system, which is used only in the United States, Liberia, and Burma, while kilometers are part of the metric system, the standard adopted by the rest of the world. Although miles originated from the British Empire, the United Kingdom adopted kilometers in 1965 to support metrication.

Mile comes from the Latin word milia, meaning "thousand." In ancient Rome, one mile equaled a thousand paces. Today, one mile is equivalent to 1,609.34 meters or 1.60934 kilometers. Kilometers, on the other hand, are part of the metric system, also known as the International System of Units (SI). As the name suggests, 1 kilometer equals 1,000 meters, as the prefix kilo- comes from the Greek word for "thousand."

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A major difference between the pound and the kilogram is their regional use. The pound (lb) is commonly used in the United States and the United Kingdom for everyday weight measurements. And, on the other hand, the kilogram (kg) serves as the primary unit of mass in most countries, including the international standards.

A pound is defined as a unit of weight approximately equal to 454 grams. The kilogram, the international standard unit of mass in the metric system, is equal to 1,000 grams.

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The United States is one of the few nations that use Fahrenheit exclusively for everyday purposes. The scientific community primarily uses Celsius, although some fields require the Kelvin scale.

Both scales are based on the freezing and boiling points of water. In the Fahrenheit scale, water freezes at 32 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. In the Celsius scale, water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees.

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Gallons and liters are units of volume measurement, most commonly used for liquids. Gallons are divided into three categories. The Imperial gallon is defined as 4.54609 liters and is or was used in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and some Caribbean countries. The US gallon is defined as 3.785411784 liters and is used in the United States and some Latin American and Caribbean countries. The US dry gallon is defined as 4.40488377086 liters.

A liter equals one cubic decimeter (dm³) and occupies a volume of 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm. In countries that adopted the metric system after the establishment of the SI standard, consumer beverages are labeled almost exclusively in liters and milliliters.

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Moving on to more homely measures for a moment, the terms teaspoon and tablespoon may sound similar but represent different volumes and serve distinct purposes in the kitchen. A teaspoon, known for its small size, is ideal for precise measurements of smaller ingredient quantities. In contrast, a tablespoon is larger and used for serving or measuring greater amounts.

A teaspoon is a unit of volume commonly used in cooking and baking. It equals one-third of a tablespoon or approximately 5 milliliters. A tablespoon, a larger unit of volume, equals three teaspoons or about 15 milliliters.

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Like miles and kilometers, inches and centimeters represent two different measurement systems. Inches are part of the U.S. customary system, sometimes called the English system, while centimeters belong to the metric system.

The United States is the only industrialized nation that has not fully adopted the metric system. The meter is the fundamental unit on which the metric system is based. Because the metric system uses a standard conversion factor, it is generally considered easier to work with. Ten millimeters equal one centimeter, 10 centimeters equal one decimeter, and 10 decimeters equal one meter. One inch equals 2.54 centimeters.

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Electricity has many complexities, and the units used to measure its different properties can be difficult to understand for those unfamiliar with the topic. A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of energy representing the amount of electricity consumed when one kilowatt is used for one hour. A joule, on the other hand, is a fundamental unit of energy.

Since a watt is defined as one joule per second, and there are 3,600 seconds in an hour, one kilowatt-hour equals 3,600 kilojoules or 3.6 megajoules.

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Let’s head back to the kitchen for this one. While these old-time cooking measurements have no precise definitions, most sources suggest that a dash is roughly ⅛ of a teaspoon, while a pinch is about 1/16 of a teaspoon.

A dash typically refers to liquid ingredients, whereas a pinch, as its name suggests, is the amount of an ingredient—such as salt or dried herbs—that can be held between the thumb and forefinger.

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Non-British cooks might be puzzled when following a British recipe that requires oven use, as temperatures are often given in gas marks.

The gas mark is a temperature scale used on gas ovens in the UK, Ireland, and some Commonwealth nations. The term refers to the numbered settings on the oven dial, which control the heat. A gas mark of ¼ corresponds to 225°F, ½ to 250°F, and 1 to 275°F. A mark of 2 equals 300°F, with each subsequent mark increasing the temperature by 25°F.

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As the name suggests, a nautical mile is a unit of distance used primarily on large bodies of water, but it is also employed in air and space navigation. Historically, it was defined as the length of one minute of the meridian arc at the equator, so the Earth's polar circumference is approximately 21,600 nautical miles.

Today, the international nautical mile is defined as 1,852 meters (about 6,076 feet or 1.151 miles). The derived unit of speed is the knot, which is one nautical mile per hour.