German · Hand Gestures (Mind the Law) · hand gesture
Stinkefinger
The finger — up yours
3/5 Watch your audience
genuinely rude; friends only, never at work
The gesture
"Raise the middle finger, back of hand toward the target."
What your hand is actually doing.
How to use it
The universal middle finger, called the "stink-finger" in German. Same meaning as everywhere, same legal trapdoor as the other gestures: flashing it in traffic is a Beleidigung and courts hand out fines running into the hundreds of euros. Kids do it behind teachers' backs; adults pay for it in front of dashcams.
Heard in the wild
Sie hat ihm den Stinkefinger gezeigt.
She gave him the finger.
Where it lands
Germany, Austria, Switzerland — legally actionable
Quick answers
- What does "Stinkefinger" mean?
- In German, "Stinkefinger" means "The finger — up yours". Literally it's "Raise the middle finger, back of hand toward the target.". The universal middle finger, called the "stink-finger" in German. Same meaning as everywhere, same legal trapdoor as the other gestures: flashing it in traffic is a Beleidigung and courts hand out fines running into the hundreds of euros. Kids do it behind teachers' backs; adults pay for it in front of dashcams.
- Is "Stinkefinger" 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 "Stinkefinger"?
- This one's a hand gesture — there's nothing to pronounce. Raise the middle finger, back of hand toward the target..
Related in German
einen Vogel zeigen gesture You've got a screw loose / you're insane Scheibenwischer gesture You're completely nuts / your brain isn't working die Zunge rausstrecken gesture Nyah-nyah — childish defiance / mockery Scheiße! SHY-suh Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive Verdammt! fair-DAMT Damn! / Damn it! Verdammt nochmal! fair-DAMT NOCH-mahl God damn it! / For crying out loud!
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Screw you".
- French Enculé ! Motherf***er / bastard (one of the hardest personal insults)
- 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.