> > > Just out of curiosity, where are you from? I'm genuinely curious > > > because I've never heard of anyone who wasn't familiar with the gesture. > > [...] > > > I'm not sure whether my upbringing has anything to do with my perception > > of the shrug, especially since I was an Air Force brat and grew up all > > over the world. > > > Hmm. It would be interesting to learn where the rest of you are from. I > > wonder if we could find a pattern here. I am from East Tennessee, and I do not think shrug often, but when I do it indicates that either I do not know the answer to a given question (and usually do not particularly care about that fact) or I am dismissing something as being of no consequence or at least not worth worrying about at the moment. I think that's how it's usually used around here, and I see it used that way from time to time, especially among younger people whose parents have not discouraged them >from doing it. It's sometimes seen as a little rude, depending on the situation. As for the definition that includes dread, I suppose some shudders, especially theatrical shudders, can resemble a shrug in the raising of the shoulders. -- J A Dusty Sayers Home Page http://www.sayersnet.com/~dusty/ Rescue the Princess http://www.sayersnet.com/~dusty/rescue/ 'It is a damn poor mind indeed that cannot think of at least two ways to spell a word.' --Andrew Jackson