Finger Muzzle

Bob is either already talking or about to say something, but Alice wants to playfully silence him. So what does she do? Why, put the finger muzzle over his mouth of course!

Like a regular muzzle prevents dogs from opening their mouths, the Finger Muzzle prevents another person from opening his/her mouth by placing... a finger over his/her mouth. It's used by both men and women, but more often than not, it's an intimate gesture. Sometimes, a kiss will follow the gesture. Or it will just be a means for a character to act flirtatious.

Not to be confused with Finger on Lips. Related to the "Shut Up" Kiss and Putting a Hand Over His Mouth.

Examples of Finger Muzzle include:

Anime and Manga

• In "The Melancholy of Asahina Mikuru," the sixth Haruhi Suzumiya light novel, Mikuru shuts a mumbling Kyon up with her finger, which she then brings to her own lips.
• In Sailor Moon The Movie S and in the 11th volume of the manga, Luna flies around with Kakeru after becoming a human so she can be with him for one night. When he nearly says her name, she uses this gesture to keep him quiet.
• In Darker than Black, Eelis Kastinen to Kirsi/Yin in a flashback. Later, Yin reverses it in a Meaningful Echo.

Music

• The music video for "Call Me When You're Sober" by Evanescence ends with Amy Lee silencing Oliver Goodwill this way.

Film

• In You've Got Mail, when Kathleen is about to insult Joe, he shuts her up in this manner and says: "Let me just help you to not say something you're just gonna torture yourself about for years to come."
• This gesture always comes before Dianne Weist's Catch Phrase, "Don't speak," in Bullets Over Broadway.
• In the animated version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Esmeralda shushes a hurt Phoebus with a finger to his lips.
• Vince Vaughn's character is silenced in this manner in Wedding Crashers while he is tied up in bed and is straddled by Rachel McAdams' brother. It Makes Sense in Context.
• In Dumb and Dumber, this is parodied as Jim Carrey does this to the female love interest at the airport; it's funny because she is so obviously not into him at this point.

Live Action TV

• Happens in Episode 13 of Season 1 in Glee.