What do the most common poses on the red carpet really mean and stand for

Posing on the red carpet is an art. And when you are doing it everyday, it must get tedious. Which is why everyone ends up striking the same pose. Most actors resort to a thumbs up or striking the peace sign in a bid to not look like mannequins on display with hands by their sides.

However, not many know that these simple gestures such as a thumbs up or a two finger V sign is actually not a politically correct gesture in many cultures.

Ranbir Kapoor perhaps in a bid to be different, often, shows his middle finger to the paparazzi.

Thumbs up sign
What it means: While the thumbs up means good luck or well-done in most parts of the world, in countries like Iraq, Russia, Sardinia and Greece the sign actually translates to negative terms. In Iraq, for instance, the sign is one of the foulest insults as it traditionally translates to ‘up yours pal.’ In Greece and Sardinia, the sign still means ‘get stuffed’ and showing the thumb guarantees a fight in most cases. Now whether our heroes know this or not, but in some cases, we won’t be surprised if they do.

The origin
It is accepted that the sign originated in Rome when a thumbs up sported by a sovereign would mean life for a gladiator in the colosseum and a thumbs down would indicate death. This had come to mean ‘all well’ or ‘all ok’ in most cultures.