French · Hand Gestures · hand gesture
Le doigt d'honneur
The finger / flipping the bird
3/5 Watch your audience
genuinely rude; friends only, never at work
The gesture
"Raise the middle finger, back of the hand toward the target"
What your hand is actually doing.
How to use it
The same middle finger you already know, imported and fully naturalised — "the finger of honour." Rude and pointed but less theatrically French than the bras d'honneur. Universally understood; universally provocative. Keep it for people you're genuinely done with.
Heard in the wild
Elle m'a fait un doigt d'honneur et elle est partie.
She flipped me off and walked away.
Where it lands
France (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Le doigt d'honneur" mean?
- In French, "Le doigt d'honneur" means "The finger / flipping the bird". Literally it's "Raise the middle finger, back of the hand toward the target". The same middle finger you already know, imported and fully naturalised — "the finger of honour." Rude and pointed but less theatrically French than the bras d'honneur. Universally understood; universally provocative. Keep it for people you're genuinely done with.
- Is "Le doigt d'honneur" offensive?
- It's genuinely rude — a 3/5 (Watch your audience) on the Punch-o-Meter. Fine among friends, never at work or with people you've just met.
- How do you pronounce "Le doigt d'honneur"?
- This one's a hand gesture — there's nothing to pronounce. Raise the middle finger, back of the hand toward the target.
Related in French
Le bras d'honneur gesture Up yours! — the forearm jerk (the big French one) Mon œil gesture My eye! / Yeah, right! / I don't believe you Il est fou (se visser la tempe) gesture He's crazy / a screw loose Avoir les boules gesture To be fed up / furious / freaked out (gesture + phrase) Con KOHN Idiot / dumbass — the single most useful insult in French Ta gueule ! ta GUHL Shut up! / Shut your mouth!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Screw you".
- German Verpiss dich! Piss off! / Clear off (with force)!
- Greek άντε γαμήσου Go fuck yourself / get lost / piss off.
- Italian Vaffanculo! Fuck off! / Go to hell!
- Japanese クソ野郎 Piece of shit / shitty bastard
- Korean 개새끼 Son of a bitch / bastard — a real insult with no soft reading.
- Polish ty kurwo You whore / you bitch — the aimed kurwa, a different animal entirely.
- Portuguese Filho da puta Son of a bitch / bastard
- Russian Средний палец Screw you / the finger
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.