Even I wasn't sure where to put this one. Simples. Some cultures point at things with their lips. Some don't. She pointed with her lips at a long, narrow line of raised stones. Would that make you think, oh, yes, lip-pointing, some people do that, or would that make you think how do these words even go together??
I'm trying to point with lips now, and I think I might have it down, but I would never interpret it as a pointing gesture. More like a pout, kissy face, or maybe a toothache? I don't know. Could be a cultural thing, like you said. I often point with an upwards nod of my head, which I guess you might call a chin-point. Interestingly enough, in my line of work, you are not allowed to point with a finger in the dinner room. Ever. We use a bunch of subtler gestures between ourselves and an openhanded point for the guests: A finger point is accusatory, as in, "You little fuckwad," but the openhanded point is a polite way of indication direction, as in, "The bathroom is over there." I thought I'd seen all ways of pointing, but the lip point is a new one. I'd probably think someone was coming on to me.
I couldn't really imagine (or recreate) how lip-pointing would work so I went and looked at some videos of people doing it. I'm sold. Of course, as part of a culture it wouldn't be perceived as odd... but in my mind, I find no way of imagining someone lip-pointing and looking serious while doing it. ETA: I love her lip movements. Look at that. And her gestures, gosh!
I like dudes, but... my goodness ETA - sorry for the off-topic. I'll scurry away and mumble that I've never heard of 'lip pointing' as a form of communication.
To be fair, she's goofing on her own culture. Filipinos, with their strong cultural/historical connection to hispanic culture, are totally a lip-pointing culture, as are Latino cultures, in general. A more workaday example can be seen in this video.
I have learned a thing. Honestly, I'd never heard of this before. Having watched the videos, I can say it works, but it seems like something you have to already know about for you to picture it correctly. Before watching the videos, I just imagined it must look like sticking out a pouty lip or a duck face towards the target of interest (I guess that's not really far off the mark though, huh?).
It's not something I'm familiar with, but it's self-explanatory enough that I would understand it in context. There'd probably be a moment of "she did what with what now" but I'd catch on
Until I watched the videos and learned a new thing (thanks, Wray!!!), I would have thought the latter. More specifically, I would have thought it was probably a missed typo.
Not got a clue what that is and youtube won't load for me right now but yeah, I totally pictured a duck face... For the sake of your audience, who have probably never heard of lip-pointing, you could always just have your narrating character describe it a little and give a bit of reaction to it as something weird/new, and then thereafter it can form a part of the character's habit to lip-point
This would confuse me. I might be a fraction less confused if it were, say, "She lifted her chin and pointed with her lips at..." because it would at least confirm that her lips don't extend like a finger--that some of the motion has to come from her head. But I definitely never heard of this before this thread.
It sounds weird to me. Pointing with the chin is more common, and understood. Pointing with lips must be a cultural thing, and I have never heard of it before. The video was odd, but I think in a text it would come off as strange to the reader when a character is tilting their head all over the place and puckering in a general direction they are facing. Might take a bit to get that nailed down so as not to have the reader looking at it as just some form of odd behavior.
I just finally watched that and she's absolutely hilarious! Also, the more serious lip-pointing boy @Wreybies posted - honestly, it really does look like he's just pouting his lips doing a kissy kissy... I do think, unless your target audience has lip-pointing as part of their culture, you're gonna have to specify what on earth it is. It's too culturally different to expect to be able to simply describe it in the same vein as a nod of the hand or shaking hands, and too culturally obscure for those not in the know.
A few people have mentioned pointing with your chin so I wanted to ask a question about that (hope it's not too off-topic). Would I be right in thinking that pointing with your chin is impolite? To me it seems to have connotations of irritation or impatience, or looking down on the recipient of the gesture. Is this correct? Or maybe a cultural thing? Or have I just misunderstood it?
In the example where the kid was on the phone, his gesture kind of made sense - I'd make a similar gesture (the lily-white Canadian version!) just by doing the nod, pointing with my chin, and looking at the requested object. The kid does all these things, too, he just adds the pout as a little extra accent. So, yes, this is a gesture I've seen some people make, but I've never heard of it called lip-pointing and would be confused if I read that phrase. Then again, if the pout is an important cultural signifier, it might be worth the extra words it would take to make it clear.
From this cultural perspective - thinking that 'pointing with your chin,' is rather more absurd. As a reader painting the pictures in my mind, picking up meaning from only a couple of sentences, the 'pout' and 'cushion lips' and the child lifting the object and bringing it to mother is more warming than some jaw thrust. I'd ascribe the former action to a cosy character, the latter - a jabbering lunatic. I think so.
I would say it's impolite/impatient if there's not a reason for it. Like, if your hands are full/busy, pointing with your chin makes sense. If you're just standing there, empty handed, it would feel dismissive to me, yes.
Yeah, she's funny. I watched a few of her other videos and felt nostalgic for days of youth spent in Hawaii where there are many Filipinos, mis primos asiáticos. Lip pointing is as natural to me as breathing, and while I know that not all cultures do it, if it's as opaque as this to others, the mention is going to have to wait for another opportunity, assuming one comes along. In the scene in question, it just doesn't feel organic to stop for a bit of culture brokering at the reader, especially to the level of detailing the parts of the gesture itself. Maybe later when it can come up more organically.
I find that where I work, where hollering at people would be the last point of call, that when I make eye contact with someone I need to speak with, I will tend to gesture with my chin and flick my head upwards in a manner similar to a finger saying 'come here please'. I find it to be less rude, and have never been considered impolite with this. However, outside of work I'd probably just walk over to them so I suppose it's quite specific in where I would use such an inward-pointing gesture.
too funny. While it may be common in some cultures I think it might be limited overall. The problem with this is that you want a wide variety in your readers and as I don't think most of the known world would be familiar with it, it might come across as awkward and comical which could spoil your effect. Better to stay on the common ground for this. Being different in some cases does not always work the way you want it to.