To perform the gesture, an arm is bent in an L-shape, with the fist pointing upwards. The other hand grips or slaps the biceps of the bent arm as it is emphatically raised to a vertical position.
The bras d'honneur is known by various names in different languages, including theIberian slap,[a]forearm jerk,Italian salute,[b] orKozakiewicz's gesture.[c][1]
InBrazil, the gesture is known as a "banana" and carries the same connotation as giving someonethe middle finger. It can also be used to denote disrespectfully ignoring what someone just said, analogous in meaning to the expression, "I don't give a fuck".[3]
InJapan, the gesture has a positive connotation, often used to convey courage ordetermination[4] in a similar manner to afist pump. To perform the gesture, a hand is placed on the opposite biceps, and then the biceps is flexed, as if the flexed biceps were being polished. Sometimes, the gesture appears in video games produced in the country; as a result, it often has to be removed during the process ofgame localisation to avoid causing offence.[5]
Portugal has the termmanguito, a diminutive ofmanga 'sleeve'. It is also the most characteristic gesture performed by the PortugueseeverymanZé Povinho.[3]
InPoland, the gesture is known aswał orgest Kozakiewicza ('Kozakiewicz's gesture') afterWładysław Kozakiewicz, who famously displayed this gesture after breaking the world record and winning the gold medal in thepole vault at the1980 Summer Olympics in front of a hostile crowd inMoscow.[6] (In Russia, this gesture is widely understood as a manlier, more "native", and more publicly acceptable version of the foreign "middle finger" gesture, but both of them are rarely used compared to thefig sign and verbal insults.) This coincided with the rise of theSolidarity Union in Poland in 1980.
InBosnia and Herzegovina andCroatia, the gesture is known asbosanski grb[7] ('Bosnian coat-of-arms') after theterritorial coat of arms ofBosnia during the Austro-Hungarian reign, that is somewhat similar to the actual gesture. The gesture is also calledod šake do lakta ('from the fist to the elbow').
In Tunisia, it is calledfaggousa and it is done the same way.
