Well, I Guess It Beats A Blackboard Rubber Whizzing Past Your Head...

...that's the method my teachers often employed! 

The “silent fox” gesture – where the hand is posed to resemble an animal with upright ears (the little and forefinger) and a closed mouth (the middle fingers pressed against the thumb) – has long been seen as a useful teaching tool by educators in Germany and elsewhere. It signals to children that they should stop talking and listen to their teacher.

Seems harmless, I suppose.

But authorities in the port city of Bremen say the symbol is “in danger of being mistaken” for the right-wing extremist “wolf salute”, from which it is indistinguishable. The salute was recently the focus of a diplomatic and sporting row, when the Turkish national football player Merih Demiral used it to celebrate scoring a goal in Turkey’s round of 16 match against Austria at the Euros earlier this month.

And why should this be controversial?

Germany is home to an estimated 3 million ethnic Turks, who make up the country’s largest single ethnic minority and form the largest Turkish diaspora globally.

Ah. I see.