SICILIAN HAND GESTURES: PART 2

    After this "series" of photographs, I am convinced that my Nonna is a cartoon character. I really have to give Mommy credit for getting Nonna on a crazy rant about Josephine, her daily caretaker. Josephine is a really nice, middle aged, round and a bit pushy Sicilian woman (that explains the pushiness) who probably doesn't have a lot of game. But in Nonna's mind, which doesn't always line up with reality, Josephine is in fact a big time player. I should note that Josephine deserves sainthood for putting up with Nonna's antics. Nonna thinks that Mr. Columbo, the old fruit man, who has the personality of a zucchini has a thing for Josephine, whom Nonna has personally witnessed flaunting it while browsing his produce. That last statement can be read lewdly, so I am leaving it just how it is. Nonna has nothing to do all day but stew about every single thing that Josephine says and does and she has no problem telling you these stories over and over, even when there is a likelihood Josephine can hear, which is very uncomfortable. Its like her own living soap opera, episodes replaying in Nonna's head. She also thinks that Josephine has the hots for the doctor, whose name is, not kidding, Dr. Stallone. Now Nonna has become very secretive about her calls and visits to the doctor to prevent Josephine from getting her hands on him. 

    Mommy and I can't quite remember exactly what Nonna was on a tirade about during this sequence, but it was definitely one of the two forbidden love affairs she created in her Sicilian brain about Josephine. Next time I will make sure to get sound bites. 

     Here, Nonna is doing a 2 part hand gesture. The first obvious, "to the moon" or hitler impersonation, is Nonna expressing "get out of here with your crazy self" because she is outraged by Josephine's seemingly loose behavior. The second more subtle aspect of this Sicilian hand gesture is, if you look closely, Nonna is giving the horns or "fare le corna." 

    Giving the horns has two meanings. First it wards off bad luck.  When someone dies you give the horns. Rocco can be seen giving the horns while riding by cemeteries, which are plentiful in Queens. Makes sense. Giving the horns is also an insult to a man who is being cuckolded, and that man is called a "cornuto." You do not want to be called a cornuto; its very embarassing. Maybe here Nonna is referring to Josephine's boyfriend, whom Josephine is "cheating on" in Nonna's mind with either the fruit man or the doctor.