< head wobble > Hoi!

Indians! What does the head-wobble mean?

Edit:

PPQ commented:
Speaking as someone from the Indian sub-continent....I can only say that it is similar to the australian inflection...you know when even statements are apoken with the tone flicking up at the end so that everything sounds like a question?

I loved this idea, because it actually makes sense. And I think possibly in Nepal it could be true. But my confusion definitely stems from it being used as the sole reply to a direct question. As in:

* Where is the temple?
* [head wobble]

** Should I take my shoes off in here?
** [head wobble]

*** What time is it?
*** [head wobble]

Okay, so the last one is a tad unfair, they clearly didn't understand the question.
One of my most fun days in the Andamans involved hiring a moped to drive around Havelock island, and do a head wobble at every Andamanese we drove past. There was an 80% return-wobble success rate. And still none of us knew what it meant.

Andre commented: it means yes

Ahhhh, but.
The only definite translations I have are confusing - I certainly have seen the head wobble used to represent, without any verbal accompaniment, all of the following phrases

• Yes.


• No.


• Maybe.


• Not this week.


• Thursday.


• You cretin.


• I'm fine, thankyou.


• Again?


• You tell me mate.


• Baksheesh please.


• Is that all?


• Hello.


• You're funny.


• I'm going to fucking get you now you bastards.


• Thankyou very much.

You see my problem? [wobbles head]

Edit ii:

Eguiguren commented:
Ah, yes- the lovely head woggle. I first became acquainted with it in the UAE, where something like 80% of the population comes from the Indian sub-continent.
It can mean "yes." Or "I don't know." Or "maybe".
But here's a radical thought- it actually means nothing. Just think of it as someone blinking. Sometimes blinking in utter incomprehension, but just blinking nonetheless.

You could be onto something, y'know. (Apart from a woggle being something the boyscouts tie their neckerchiefs with :)
So I got me a book on body language. Apparently in Indian expatriate communities around the world (NRI - non-resident indians), the head wobble means yes.
It's close enough to a head shake to be interpreted by a european as no, which is where the double-take and confusion starts.

But apparently, in India, the head wobble means this:

Mm-hmm. I'm listening. Go on.