[garblegarble]

>this means "please wait" for the rest of the world

In UK+Ireland I don't think anybody would understand anything from that gesture (certainly to everybody I've just surveyed)

Here, "please wait" would be a palm held up flat, without the fingers/thumb spread ("stop", which would be what I'd expect at an official checkpoint) or the more polite informal version, a raised hand towards the person with index finger raised and usually with a nod (this is what I'd expect at a restaurant or an office for "I see you but I'm busy right now")

[zeckalpha]

I read that as the gesture literally means “go f*ck yourself” in Italian, which in Italian is a relatively mild way of saying “please wait”, not that the rest of the world would use the gesture for “please wait”.