# AI tells a traveler that waving hello, hailing a taxi, or showing the number five with an open palm and spread fingers is a neutral gesture in Greece

- **ID:** `culture/moutza-open-palm-gesture`
- **Domain:** culture
- **Category:** cultural_taboo
- **Verification:** ai_generated
- **Fix Rate:** 85%

## Root Cause

The open-palm, fingers-spread gesture (moutza) is one of Greece's most offensive insults, tracing to a Byzantine public-shaming practice. An ordinary wave, taxi-hail, or 'five' shown with the palm facing another person reads as a deliberate insult, not a neutral signal.

## Version Compatibility

| Version | Status | Introduced | Deprecated |
|---------|--------|------------|------------|
| any | active | — | — |

## Workarounds

1. **Wave with fingers held together (not spread) or slightly bent, use a thumbs-up, or turn the palm toward yourself when showing a number** (90% success)
   ```
   To hail a taxi or greet someone, keep the fingers together rather than fully splayed, or use a closed-fist wave. To show the number five, face the palm toward your own body instead of toward the other person.
   ```

## Dead Ends

- **Wave hello, hail a taxi, or show 'five' by raising an open hand with fingers spread toward the other person** — The gesture is the moutza: an open palm with spread fingers thrust toward someone's face or body, historically tied to a Byzantine practice of smearing ash or excrement on an offender's face as public shaming. Presenting it toward another person reads as a targeted insult regardless of the sender's intent, and taxi drivers in particular will often refuse to stop for a raised open palm. (50% fail)