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Polish · Hands & Trouble · hand gesture

gest Kozakiewicza

Up yours — Poland's most famous gesture, with an Olympic gold medal attached.

3/5 Watch your audience

genuinely rude; friends only, never at work

The gesture

"Right fist raised, left hand slapped into the crook of the right elbow — the bent-arm 'up yours.'"

What your hand is actually doing.

How to use it

The bras d'honneur, but in Poland it has a name, a date, and a legend: pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz, Moscow Olympics 1980, clearing gold in front of a jeering Soviet crowd and answering the whistles with this — a bent-arm salute seen by half the world. The gesture means an emphatic "up yours," fighting-words territory aimed cold at a stranger, but its patriotic-defiance halo means Poles also flash it jokingly at friends, referees, and parking meters. Severity 3 riding that context split. Know the story; telling it correctly buys you a round.

Heard in the wild

Wygrał zakład i pokazał kumplom gest Kozakiewicza.

He won the bet and gave his buddies the Kozakiewicz gesture.

Where it lands

Poland (universal); national lore since Moscow 1980

Quick answers

What does "gest Kozakiewicza" mean?
In Polish, "gest Kozakiewicza" means "Up yours — Poland's most famous gesture, with an Olympic gold medal attached.". Literally it's "Right fist raised, left hand slapped into the crook of the right elbow — the bent-arm 'up yours.'". The bras d'honneur, but in Poland it has a name, a date, and a legend: pole vaulter Władysław Kozakiewicz, Moscow Olympics 1980, clearing gold in front of a jeering Soviet crowd and answering the whistles with this — a bent-arm salute seen by half the world. The gesture means an emphatic "up yours," fighting-words territory aimed cold at a stranger, but its patriotic-defiance halo means Poles also flash it jokingly at friends, referees, and parking meters. Severity 3 riding that context split. Know the story; telling it correctly buys you a round.
Is "gest Kozakiewicza" 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 "gest Kozakiewicza"?
This one's a hand gesture — there's nothing to pronounce. Right fist raised, left hand slapped into the crook of the right elbow — the bent-arm 'up yours.'.

Related in Polish

pstryknięcie w szyję gesture Let's drink / he's been drinking — the vodka semaphore. figa z makiem gesture You get nothing / fat chance — the mocking denial gesture. kurwa KOOR-vah Fuck / damn / shit — the load-bearing word of Polish, and its most common comma. kurwa mać KOOR-vah MAHCH Fucking hell / goddammit — the emphatic, two-barrel kurwa. skurwysyn skoor-VIH-sin Son of a bitch — a hard, aimed insult with the kurwa root inside. wkurwiony fkoor-VYOH-nih Pissed off / furious.

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Screw you".

how to say "Screw you" →

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