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I am translating a TED video and I came across this line. Would somebody help me putting this line in simpler expanded form?

"You know, it's remarkable how universal the gesture is of handing your camera to a total stranger"

Edit:

Since I was asked for edit. All I want to add at this point is I am not totally sure what that line mean. That is the reason I am trying to understand how one can interpret the sentence. Reading all the comments and the answers I now think this sentence has a clear meaning and implications although one can rephrase this in different ways. But the gist or essence of the sentence is simply the same. Thanks everyone for your contribution. Appreciated.

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Interpret it into what? It's already in English. – Robusto Feb 2 at 1:03
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Here in Taiwan, everybody is perfectly happy to give their expensive digital camera to strangers & say "Would you please take our picture?" We're not afraid that the average guy on the street will steal it. I'd never do that in the USA, because the chance that the stranger & your camera will be gone in less than 30 seconds is just far too high. – Bill Franke Feb 2 at 1:05
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@BillFranke: Which USA are you talking about? Where I live you could do that all day and not lose your camera. People would think you were a doofus, though. – Robusto Feb 2 at 1:18
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@Bill: you may be reluctant to do it in the USA, but many people have asked me to take their pictures, and I have not stolen a single camera. – Peter Shor Feb 2 at 1:44
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Rephrasing into something easier to parse: You hand your camera to a total stranger. It's a universal gesture. The universality of this gesture is remarkable. – SF. Feb 2 at 2:52
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closed as too localized by MετάEd, tchrist, Mitch, Andrew Leach, Jim Feb 2 at 22:18

This question is unlikely to help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet. For help making this question more broadly applicable, see the FAQ.

4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote accepted

You know, it is interesting how easily you give your camera to a total stranger.

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Here you go: "You know,it is amazing how common it is to use certain body language in asking a request for a picture."

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"You know, it's remarkable how universal body language can be. For example, when you hand your camera to a total stranger, everyone understands what this gesture implies."

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up vote 0 down vote

You know, it's amazing how people worldwide will hand their camera to a total stranger [and ask for a photo].

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