limp-wrist gesture
- noun
- Slur
:
gesto afeminado
- She made a limp-wrist gesture to signal her sarcastic disapproval.
Examples
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The comedian was criticized for using the limp-wrist gesture in his act.
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His exaggerated limp-wrist gesture drew laughter from the audience, though some found it offensive.
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He made a limp-wrist gesture to mock her.
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Did you see her limp-wrist gesture during the meeting?
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When he rolled his eyes and made a limp-wrist gesture, everyone understood he was being sarcastic.
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She often uses a limp-wrist gesture when she wants to mock someone's dramatic behavior.
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His limp-wrist gesture during the presentation was meant to humorously emphasize his point.
How Mocking
Surface Forms
Morphology
limp-wrist + gesture
The phrase composes directly from 'limp' (not stiff) + 'wrist' (body part) + 'gesture' (a bodily movement), so a B1 learner who knows those words will readily infer it denotes a gesture made with a hanging/loose wrist. The sociocultural connotations of mockery or affectation are somewhat culture-specific and may not be fully predictable, but the core physical meaning is transparently derivable from the constituents.
Etymology
The noun limp-wrist gesture comes from the image of a loose, floppy wrist — a very limp hand that hangs and moves in a weak, showy way. People used that clear motion to make fun of someone, so the gesture came to mean 'mockery' or 'sarcasm' and can be offensive.