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Know what we mean, eh?

DOZENS more readers have written about the “didn’t I do well?” gesture, remaining divided on whether it represents polishing one’s fingernails or an invisible medal (23 July). Bob Millar says that it was common when he was young, as was another interesting gesture which involves a finger laid up the side of the nose. This can mean “Keep it quiet, but we know something special,” or “Ha! I know something that you don’t.”

But why? The all-knowing interweb is not helping, producing only more questions, as you might expect for a problem that depends…

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