194 W H A T EVERY BODY IS SAYING
Tongue-jutting behavior is a gesture used by people who think they
have gotten away with something or are caught doing something. I have
seen this behavior in flea markets both here and in Russia, among street
vendors in Lower Manhattan, at poker tables in Las Vegas, during in-
terviews at the FBI, and in business meetings. In each case, the person
made the gesture—tongue between the teeth without touching the
lips—at the conclusion of some sort of a deal or as a final nonverbal
statement (see figure 82). This, in its own way, is a transactional behav-
ior. It seems to present subconsciously at the end of social interactions
and has a variety of meanings that must be taken in context. Its several
meanings include: I got caught, gleeful excitement, I got away with
something, I did something foolish, or I am naughty.
Just today, as I was going over some notes for this book, the attendant
at the university cafeteria placed the wrong vegetables on the plate of the
student directly in front of me. When the student spoke up to correct the
error, the attendant jutted her tongue out between her teeth and raised
her shoulders as if to say, “Oops, I made a mistake.”
Lip licking is a pacifying behavior that
tends to soothe and calm us down. You
see it in class just before a test.Fig. 81