# hands

> 2-hands.app is a reference on the word "hands": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

People use 'hands' to talk about the parts of the body at the end of the arms. They also use it to mean help, as in 'lend a hand,' or control, as in 'get your hands on something.'

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- Hands, the poker hand evaluator (poker software, game AI): rank card combinations, calculate odds, or fold based on hand strength
- Hands, the tracking data (computer vision, VR/AR): detect hand position, gestures, or finger poses from camera or sensor input
- Hands, the manual steps (DevOps, deployment scripts): require human intervention instead of automation
- Hands, the unit of labor (project management, workforce planning): count workers needed or assign tasks to individuals

## When a person says

- "I need two hands on this"
  They mean: I need help from another person
  Avoid: think you want two instances running or two workers assigned in a system
  Read it as: "I need another person to help me with this task"
- "Keep your hands off my data"
  They mean: Do not touch or access my information
  Avoid: interpret this as a request to disable hand tracking or gesture controls
  Read it as: "Do not access or modify my data without permission"
- "It is in good hands now"
  They mean: Someone capable is taking care of it
  Avoid: think control has been transferred to a specific system or user role named 'hands'
  Read it as: "A capable person or team is now responsible for it"

## Words it is confused with

- hand: singular often means a specific person or a card deal, not help in general
- fingers: more specific to digits, less likely to mean labor or help
- gloves: protective wear, not used for help or control
- touch: overlaps with physical contact but not with workforce or poker meanings
- manual: shares the 'by hand' meaning but is clearer about human effort versus automated

## Pages

- [hands](https://2-hands.app/): the same entry, written for people