A man shruggingDiagram showing how to do shoulder shrugs after breast reconstruction surgery
Ashrug is agesture orposture performed by raising bothshoulders. In certain countries, it is a representation of an individual either being indifferent about something or not knowing an answer to a question.[1]
The shoulder-raising action may be accompanied by rotating the palms upwards, pulling closed lips downwards, raising the eyebrows or tilting the head to one side.[2] A shrug is anemblem, meaning that it integrates the vocabulary of only certain cultures and may be used in place of words.[3] In many countries, such asthe United States,Sweden andMorocco, a shrug represents hesitation or lack of knowledge; however, in other countries, such asJapan andChina, shrugging is uncommon and is not used to show hesitation. People fromthe Philippines,Iran andIraq may interpret a shrug as a somewhat impolite sign of confidence.[4]
TheGallic shrug, "generally a nuanced gesture with myriad meanings",[5] is performed by sticking out your lower lip, raising your eyebrows and shoulders simultaneously,[6][7][8][9][10] and voicing a nonchalantbof.[11]
^Jokinen, Kristiina; Allwood, Jens (2010). "Hesitation in Intercultural Communication: Some Observations and Analyses on Interpreting Shoulder Shrugging". In Ishida, Toru (ed.).Culture and Computing: Computing and Communication for Crosscultural Interaction. Vol. 6259. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. pp. 55–70.doi:10.1007/978-3-642-17184-0_5.ISBN978-3-642-17183-3.ISSN0302-9743.
