Stop pointing at things with your finger like some kind of barbarian—use your elbow instead! The ultimate in high-class manners.

Background:

Pointing with an outstretched index finger is a common gesture used by humans to direct another human’s attention.

The Issue:

Since pointing is so widespread, a human being pointed at will usually also recognize the gesture. Depending on the circumstances, pointing may be considered to be rude and accusative.

For example, imagine that you are with a friend in the supermarket pasta aisle, and you observe a strange snake-like figure with a human head. This situation could happen to anyone, and many people would instinctively point at the humanoid snake (Figure 1) and ask their friend “what’s that?”

***Fig. 1:*** *Pointing with an index figure is easily recognized by the being-pointed-at-target.*

However, the humanoid snake probably gets pointed at quite frequently, and might become enraged at this rude gesture. If only there were a more subtle way to direct a person’s attention!

Proposal:

The solution is simple; a person can, instead of pointing with a finger, just casually make their elbow into a ”V“ shape that points at the subject of interest (Figure 2).

***Fig. 2:*** *This “elbow-V” pointing method accomplishes the same goal as the normal pointing in figure 1, but is much less obvious. In this example, the humanoid snake remains oblivious to the pointing.*

This more subtle form of pointing is far superior!

Conclusion:

Due to its rarity, elbow pointing is discreet and polite. But be sure to re-evaluate this situation frequently—if elbow pointing becomes too popular, then it will lose its clandestine qualities.

PROS: Classes up the “pointing” gesture and brings a higher degree of politeness to the world.

CONS: It’s less precise than index-finger pointing. This could be a problem if you want to point out a specific humanoid snake in a group of them at a supermarket.