A bras d'honneur (French: "arm of honor") is an obscene gesture. To form the gesture, an arm is bent to make an L-shape, while the other hand then grips the inner side of the bent arm's elbow, and the bent forearm is then raised vertically in a gesturing motion. It has the same meaning as giving the finger (known as le doigt d'honneur), though this particular usage is often connotated as relating to the phrase "Up Yours". Occasionally, the middle finger of the bent arm is also raised to add emphasis.
In the 1982 film Poltergeist, Dana (the older daughter) makes this gesture, very slowly, to a couple of construction workers who are ogling her.
In the 1988 Mel Brooks space-movie parody Spaceballs, the titular antagonists use a modified form of the bras d'honneur as the traditional salute to President Skroob (played by Brooks), and he responds in kind—in essence, they salute by insulting each other. To form Skroob's salute, the same bras d'honneur is performed, but at the conclusion of the gesture, the raised hand is then opened with all fingers wiggling towards the person being saluted. Thus, the insult is tempered by the wave.
In an opening of the anime Ranma ½, Ranma-kun makes this sign.
In the 2004 film Mean Girls, Lizzy Caplan's character Janis Ian, makes this sign at Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) in the sports hall scene.
In the movie version of Rent, Mark and Mimi make this sign during the performance of "La Vie Boheme."
In the video game Grand Theft Auto 3 the protagonist Claude displays this sign if he is hit or almost hit by a car.
In the film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, a character displays the gesture.
In the game Postal 2 the civilians of Paradise City will display this sign when they refuse to sign your petition, and calling you a "Freaking Pinko".
In Brazil, the sign is known as a "banana" and carries the same connotation as giving someone the finger. In some South American countries and in Spain it is called "corte de mangas" ("sleeve-cut") with the same meaning. In México, the sign is known as a "mentada de madre" and means an insult directed towards the mother of the offended.
In Italy it is often referred to as gesto dell'ombrello, meaning literally "umbrella gesture." Its most famous occurrence in Italian cinema is in Federico Fellini's I vitelloni (1953), where the idler played by Alberto Sordi jeers at a group of workmen, combining this gesture with a raspberry. [1]
In the game World of Warcraft, all players and races can make an insulting gesture at another player by typing '/rude'; male characters make the bras d'honneur while female characters use a different motion more similar to spanking.
The gesture is known in Poland as gest Kozakiewicza ("Kozakiewicz's gesture") after Władysław Kozakiewicz, who famously displayed this gesture after winning the gold medal in the pole vault at the 1980 Summer Olympics in front of a hostile, jeering crowd in Moscow.
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