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Italian · Hand Gestures · hand gesture

Il gesto del mento

I couldn't care less / get lost / nothing

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

The gesture

"Backs of the fingers flicked outward from under the chin"

What your hand is actually doing.

How to use it

The chin flick — brush the fingers forward off the underside of the chin — means dismissive "I don't give a damn" or "there's nothing / forget it," the gestural cousin of "menefreghismo." It reads as rude-but-casual, not a fighting insult. (Note: the same flick means an emphatic "no" in Greece and southern Italy's Greek-influenced pockets — mind your latitude.)

Heard in the wild

Ti importa? [chin flick] Per niente.

Do you care? [chin flick] Not in the slightest.

Where it lands

Universal; overlaps a Greek 'no' in the far south

Quick answers

What does "Il gesto del mento" mean?
In Italian, "Il gesto del mento" means "I couldn't care less / get lost / nothing". Literally it's "Backs of the fingers flicked outward from under the chin". The chin flick — brush the fingers forward off the underside of the chin — means dismissive "I don't give a damn" or "there's nothing / forget it," the gestural cousin of "menefreghismo." It reads as rude-but-casual, not a fighting insult. (Note: the same flick means an emphatic "no" in Greece and southern Italy's Greek-influenced pockets — mind your latitude.)
Is "Il gesto del mento" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
How do you pronounce "Il gesto del mento"?
This one's a hand gesture — there's nothing to pronounce. Backs of the fingers flicked outward from under the chin.

Related in Italian

Le corna gesture Your partner's cheating on you / cuckold (as an insult) Fare le corna (scaramanzia) gesture Touch wood / knock on wood / ward off the evil eye L'ombrello gesture Up yours! / Vaffanculo, in gesture form Il dito medio gesture Fuck you / flip the bird Occhio! gesture Watch out / stay sharp / I'm onto you Ma che vuoi? gesture What do you want?! / What are you saying?! / Come on!

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Get lost".

how to say "Get lost" →

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