Insulting Gestures: France: Gesture 3 (Casse!)

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Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture                                    Informant: Stefanos (“Stef”) Bennink

Name: This arm gesture is an insult meaning broken!         Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data: Stef Bennink is a 21-year-old male born on January 21st, 1997, in Paris, France. Stef currently lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but was raised in Paris. Stef has had internships in both Amsterdam and Paris. Stef is a Government major at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

 

  • Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.
  • Social context: Young French individuals will use this arm gesture to say that you’ve been dissed big time. While they use this gesture, they will say the word “Casse!”

 

Item: The item presented here is a video of Stefanos demonstrating the French gesture. I recorded this interview with an iPhone. All of the information provided in this write-up is an accurate depiction of the knowledge I obtained while speaking with Stefanos.

Transcript: “I first saw this gesture when I watched the movie ‘Brice de Nice,’ which is about an obnoxious man and his friend who enter a surfing competition and like to party a lot. The movie was released in 2005. When this gesture is used, it means “Gotcha!” or “Broken!”

Informant’s Comments: Stefanos stated that this gesture is a more playful diss or tease after a joke or insult has been made by an individual.

Collector’s Comments: I have never heard of this gesture before this interview but I think this insulting gesture has a small bit of humor attached with it. I do not believe there is an equivalent gesture in American culture that is similar to this gesture, so I am glad I was able to learn about this unique French gesture.

Collector’s Name:

Jordan Siegal

HB 4020 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

  • Gestures
  • France
  • Insulting
  • Arm
  • Swing
  • Casse

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