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Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture                  Informant: Emmanuelle (“Emma”) Loulmet

Name: This gesture of a clenched first and arm movement is an insulting gesture!

Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data: Emma Loulmet is a 21-year-old female born on April 23rd, 1997, in Paris, France. Emma was born in France and has lived in Paris for most of her life. For high school, she attended a boarding school in Reims, the capital of the Champagne region. Emma moved to the United States for her undergraduate studies. Emma is an Economics major at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.
• Social context: French individuals will use this gesture to say “F*ck you!”

Item: The item presented here is a video of Emma 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 Emma.

Transcript: “I first saw this experience when I was 10-years-old. My cousin and I were playing with toys and we got into an argument. And then she used this gesture. I didn’t know what it meant at the time but I started crying and soon learned what it meant.”

Informant’s Comments: This is an insulting gesture used in France. This gesture is not used much, but it is known to be a gesture that has negative connotations.

Collector’s Comments: We see this gesture used across many European countries, and is even used in the United States.

Collector’s Name:

Jordan Siegal

HB 4020 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

• Gestures
• France
• Insulting
• Hand
• Fist

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

Name: The gesture of twisting your index finger on your head means this person is crazy! 

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: French individuals will use this gesture to signify that someone is acting crazy or is a crazy person.

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 my mother was playfully insulting my dad when I was a young child. My dad was attempting to build a collector model airplane and became very frustrated because the parts were not fitting together. My mom looked at me from behind the kitchen counter and made this gesture and bugged out her eyes. She was laughing while she made the gesture, but I knew she meant it as a playful insult trying to tell me that my dad is crazy about some things.”

Informant’s Comments: This gesture is more common to see than other French gestures because it can be used in a more playful insulting manner. The fact that this gesture can be used with many different moods means that it is seen more often.

Collector’s Comments: Americans have a very similar gesture. Instead of placing the index finger to the head and twisting it, Americans will hover their index finger next to their head and move it in a circular motion.

Collector’s Name:

Jordan Siegal

HB 4020 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

• Gestures
• France
• Insulting
• Index finger
• Crazy

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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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Folklore Form/Genre: French gesture                                Informant: Mitchell Tevis

Name: This gesture of flicking your chin is an insult!        Place of Discovery: Hanover, NH

Informant Data:  Mitch Tevis is a 22-year-old male born on December 23rd, 1995, in California, United States. While Mitch was born in the United States, he spent much of his young life in both the United Kingdom and Paris, France. Mitch has family out in France and frequently spends time in France when he is not at Dartmouth completing his undergraduate studies. Mitch studies romance languages at Dartmouth.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural context: French gestures tend to be fairly expressive in nature.

• Social context: French individuals will use this gesture to tell someone to “Get lost” and can even be a variant of “F*ck you.”

Item: The item presented here is a video of Mitch 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 Mitch.

Transcript: “The first time I remember seeing this gesture was when I was sitting in the back of a taxi in France. My taxi driver had cut someone off on the road and the other driver flicked his chin, which I knew was not a friendly gesture. At the time, I had no idea what it meant because I was so young. But I had seen it a few times since and developed an understanding for what the gesture signified.”

Informant’s Comments: Mitch does not typically see this gesture used because of its insulting nature. But this gesture is used in different European countries and is known to have a distinct negative connotation associated with its use.

Collector’s Comments: I would believe that this gesture is the equivalent of the middle finger in American culture.

Collector’s Name:

Jordan Siegal

HB 4020 Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755

Dartmouth College

Tags/Keywords:

• Gestures
• France
• Insulting
• Chin
• Flick