Friday Footnote: How to say "No" in Japanese

The finger X, hand X, or forearm X (you may have noticed 🙅🏻‍♀️ among your emojis and wondered about it) is a common sign employed by Japanese people to inform someone else that they either cannot do something they are about to do or be somewhere they are about to go. I was once given a forearm X by a security guard when I attempted to walk through an entrance that was closed off, and sometimes a finger X or hand X, usually held lower on the body, if something I wanted wasn’t available in a store or not an option at a restaurant. Usually, it would appear when asking for an eigo no menu (English menu). The gesture will often be used in lieu of saying “No.” Sometimes it will accompany the “No”, but Japanese people generally, really, absolutely hate to say iie, or “no”. Maybe that’s because its literal translation of iie is “That’s incorrect.” And I can see how it might be rude to tell someone they are being incorrect. In his book Dave Barry Does Japan, the American humor writer Dave Ba…