The Kindly Brontosaurus and the Surrender Cobra

The human body is an amazing collection of bones, muscles, nerves, and joints, able to contort itself into an almost infinite variety of positions*. Over the years, many of these positions have had names attached to them ... for example, yoga students give many positions descriptive names like the "Downward Facing Dog"** ...

But there are a lot of named poses beyond the yoga arena. I ran across one of them a few years ago in this article by Jessica Winter: The Kindly Brontosaurus ... the subtitle of the article is The amazing, prehistoric posture that will get you whatever you want, whenever you want it. Ms Winter describes The Kindly Brontosaurus pose this way (note: her example used an interaction with an airline gate agent; I've edited it to make it more general) ...

" ... stand quietly and lean forward slightly, hands loosely clasped in a faintly prayerful arrangement. You will be in [your target's] peripheral vision—close enough that he can’t escape your presence, not so close that you’re crowding him—but you must keep your eyes fixed placidly on [his] face at all times. Assemble your features in an understanding, even beatific expression. Do not speak unless asked a question. Whenever [your target] says anything, whether to you or other would-be [petitioners], you must nod empathically."

The idea is to be pleasantly and non-threateningly persistent until your target gives in just to make you go away. Does it work? Ms Winter claims it is 100% effective. Why is that? Well, according to Dr. Lillian Glass, a body language expert quoted in the article,

“The body language of the Kindly Brontosaurus is respectful and nonthreatening ... There’s a humility, so you allow the other person to feel empowered. Since you’ve made them feel like king of the jungle, they’re more receptive to you.”

Without knowing that it has a specific name, I've been using a variation of The Kindly Brontosaurus for years. My parents were the most polite and nonthreatening of people, and I've tried to be the same way as my default position in dealing with others. Of course, I'm perfectly capable of being an awful bastard if it's called for, but - as my mother was always fond of saying - you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. In my experience, The Kindly Brontosaurus approach doesn't always work, but it works more often than not.

Which leads me to another pose that I just read about in an article a few months back: The Surrender Cobra.

A cobra looks like this ...

Which relates well to the surrender cobra pose, which looks like this ...

... and is described in Grantland's college football dictionary as "a pose frequently adopted by fans witnessing unfortunate sports happenings, characterized by clasping hands on top of head as though one is under arrest and a slow, tense exhale of breath."

So, here's your challenge, Dear Readers ... what other postures, animal-related or not, deserve descriptive names? Leave a comment and share your ideas.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

* Of course, the same can be said of the human brain, such as it is.

** You can find a list - with pictures - here.