Saturday, December 8, 2007

gesture question

German-Italian propaganda poster from WW2 with Italian soldier making or nearly making a rude gesture
German-Italian WW2 propaganda poster
"per arruolarsi nella legione SS Italiana onore fedelta coraggio"
translates to
"to enlist in Italian SS legion loyalty honor courage" (or so says google)

Frankly, I think it looks like a rude gesture. I hate to show my ignorance but does the gesture still mean screw you with a wayward thumb sticking out? If so is it appeal to jerks to join up?

(I think it is poorly drawn too. The hand/wrist seems too broad. This bothers me.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

From an Italian Native (ie, me):

"per arruolarsi nella legione SS Italiana onore fedelta coraggio"

Translates to:

"To enlist in the Italian SS Legion is to embrace in loyalty, honour and courage."

And having the pointer and middle finger up, with the nails facing forward, generally means "Fuck You" these days.

Thus ends the sermon of the 21 year old!

Col. Milquetoast said...

Thanks ash, your translation makes more sense. I'm not familiar with the gesture besides from Brit TV shows. I guess no one familiar with it would look at his gesture the way I did.