You are #1

Be careful of the gestures you make!

Gestures are another area where care must be taken. As George W Bush stood watching his second inaugural parade in January 2005, he held up a fist with the forefinger and little finger extended.

Where he comes from, this is the victory salute of the University of Texas Longhorns, the "hook 'em horns". Not so in Italy, where the same sign can imply that a man is a cuckold. In Norway, it's the sign of the devil, more often used by fans of dodgy heavy metal groups than world leaders.

In Atlanta on any afternoon sitting in traffic you can see that many people think the drivers that just pulled out in front of them are #1 in their book, or as I have heard from a couple people that in those cars with the fish on the back the people are not telling you that you are #1, rather that they are looking forward to seeing you in heaven.