Correct etiquette/behavior for withdrawing an acknowledgement/gesture

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Accy cyclist

Legendary Member
Up the local park this afternoon i saw a woman i thought i was on friendly terms with,so as she looked at me from about 30 yards away i raised mt left arm at the elbow with my palm facing towards her,fingers slightly bent as to not appear too formal. I was shocked to see that i'd made a mistake as on looking closer i realised she wasn't a friend but a foe!:unsure: The dog she had with her was the same type as the woman i'm on friendly terms with has. Anyway,the damage was done,i'd politely acknowledged a person i'd rather ignore/avoid. On realising my mistake i kind of raised my other/right arm at the elbow and pretended i was doing some sort of elbow exercise in the hope she'd stop thinking i'd made a friendly gesture to her. My question is when you wave/shout at someone in a friendly fashion,then wish you hadn't done because it isn't/wasn't the person you thought it was,how do you save face? 🤔
 

argulator

Member
Location
Oklahoma, USA
Correct etiquette would probably be to politely acknowledge friends and foes. But I don't really have any foes that I know of.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
My question is when you wave/shout at someone in a friendly fashion,then wish you hadn't done because it isn't/wasn't the person you thought it was,how do you save face? 🤔
You can't save face now, just make an appointment with your local optician in order to avoid a recurrence, unless of course the woman you waved to is your local optician.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Wave, Smile then give the double finger in this sort of gesture.

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Drago

Legendary Member
So let me get this straight. You were at a right wing rally and thought you'd seen Magda Goebels, so you gave a Hitler salute. You belatedly reaslised it was actually Gal Gadot, and in your embarassment could not work out how to withdraw from the situarion with honour intact? Thats what rhe dexcription of your hand gesture sounds like.
 

CanucksTraveller

Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Location
Hertfordshire
I'd have done that "knob head" gesture where it looks like you're describing with your hand an enormous, curved imaginary member which is growing out of your forehead.
You don't see anyone do that these days, so as well as being mildly insulting, at the same time it would have a certain a 80s whimsy and retro charm about it.
 
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