Spanish · Hand Gestures · hand gesture
Corte de manga
Up yours! / screw you!
genuinely rude; friends only, never at work
The gesture
"Bend one arm up in a fist; slap the bicep of that arm with the opposite hand"
What your hand is actually doing.
How to use it
Europe's answer to the middle finger — the "sleeve cut." Snap your forearm up into a fist while the other hand slaps the bicep, and you've told someone exactly where to go without a word. Iconic in Spain and much of Latin America. Genuinely rude and aggressive; it's a gesture that ends conversations, not one you flash for laughs at strangers.
Heard in the wild
El conductor le hizo un corte de manga al que se le metió.
The driver gave the guy who cut him off an 'up yours.'
Where it lands
Spain & Latin America (widely understood)
Quick answers
- What does "Corte de manga" mean?
- In Spanish, "Corte de manga" means "Up yours! / screw you!". Literally it's "Bend one arm up in a fist; slap the bicep of that arm with the opposite hand". Europe's answer to the middle finger — the "sleeve cut." Snap your forearm up into a fist while the other hand slaps the bicep, and you've told someone exactly where to go without a word. Iconic in Spain and much of Latin America. Genuinely rude and aggressive; it's a gesture that ends conversations, not one you flash for laughs at strangers.
- Is "Corte de manga" 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 "Corte de manga"?
- This one's a hand gesture — there's nothing to pronounce. Bend one arm up in a fist; slap the bicep of that arm with the opposite hand.
Related in Spanish
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "Screw you".
- French Enculé ! Motherf***er / bastard (one of the hardest personal insults)
- 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
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