It's kind of an "ok" gesture held up to his face, then a little loopty loop before plopping it down in front of him. I've wondered about this for years, saw the movie again last night and I gotta know!
by JoeGibbon
It's kind of an "ok" gesture held up to his face, then a little loopty loop before plopping it down in front of him. I've wondered about this for years, saw the movie again last night and I gotta know!
by JoeGibbon
11 comments
The guy says “mi raccomando” which can be [translated as](https://www.wordreference.com/iten/mi%20raccomando%21) “i entrust myself to you” but tbh I don’t think that the gesture has a particular meaning, especially the plopping down part
Hmm, it’s not really a gesture we use imho, but considering what’s been said “mi raccomando” Remo is using it as a way to basically put an emphasis on saying “we understand each other” or “got it?”
That gesture in that context done in that way has a vague meaning of “do the thing precisely like i told you / pay attention and follow what I said to the letter / don’t make stupid mistakes by being careless”
The phrase he said while doing it (“mi raccomando”) isn’t really translatable but it’s kinda like “I’m counting on you/don’t let me down” – which attaches clear meaning to the gesture.
I’ll say it’s a gesture you use to emphasize something. The focus should be more about moving your arm towards and stop it more than the hand gesture itself: hand movement is as important as the gesture.
The gesture can be appropriate for the meaning ‘mi raccomando,’ as others have mentioned. However, the execution… Totally fake.
As an Italian, this is the first time I’ve seen this gesture done.
It’s a gesture we still do, especially who is the 50+ year range. While “MI raccomando” means something like don’t let me down, the gesture should be done in a straight line from top to bottom, while raising your eyebrows and looking into the eyes of the person you are interacting with.
It basically is a reinforcement of the affirmation, but asking also to do every step by the book, exactly as asked, with absolutely no variations.
Sometimes I still do it, especially to younger folks.
The loopty loop is kinda common and I do it myself sometimes but the plopping down not so common.
Thank you everyone! This has been a beautiful, enlightening experience.
The meaning is “I want you to be precise and follow my instructions to the letter”. I use it all the time and I only now realize it is part of italian-from-italy gestures.
Never seen it before.
Others have already explained what “Mi raccomando” means, and while it could be accompanied by some kind of Ok-like hand gesture, the one displayd in the movie looks completely made-up, or at least severely botched, to me.
Probably it’s some century-old gesture from Southern Italy that morphed into what we got in the movie.