What does the gesture to touch the side of your nose with a forefinger mean? [closed]

Solution 1:

I've seen several interpretations of this action, and people have different interpretations, but most of them agree on the fact that the person doing this action knows something.

The meanings vary slightly, including:

Secrecy -- But if they are tapping the side of their nose, that is more along the lines of: it's a secret.

Secret, that you keep to yourself -- I would say that the tap on the side of the nose, or more commonly a double tap, indicates I am telling you a secret which you must not repeat

A move in charades, to let the team know they've guessed right

Used to indicate that the person has knowledge concerning a matter, and that his advice is trustworthy -- Take my advice, I know these things.(taps nose)

But I think, in view of the context, the protagonist of the story is tapping his nose to indicate that he knows what he's talking about, and he wants Dennis to trust him, and that he(the protagonist) has knowledge concerning this matter.

It could also, as @Kith points out, mean that the protagonist wants Dennis to keep whatever he says as a secret.

Solution 2:

The gesture is used to suggest that the one giving the gesture knows something that is pertinent to the one being gestured to. Typically (though not always) it also indicates that the one giving the gesture is unable or unwilling to outright reveal what they know.

A very similar gesture is used in the game "Charades" to indicate a correct guess

Solution 3:

Though using the forefinger, not the middle finger, isn’t this gesture confused with the bird?

Note that the nose-tapping gesture is usually made with the back of the hand facing the side, rather than the front, so there is almost no danger of confusion. You can see the gesture in this photograph.