Thomas Rowlandson - Taunting with Smoke from a Pipe - Google Art Project

A taunt is a

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religio ...

sarcastic Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflectio ...

remark, gesture, or insult intended to demoralize or antagonize the recipient. Taunting can exist as a form of social competition to gain control of the target's

cultural capital In the field of sociology, cultural capital comprises the social assets of a person (education, intellect, style of speech, style of dress, social capital, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society. Cultural capital functions as ...

(i.e., status). In

sociological Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in ...

theory, the control of the three social capitals is used to produce an advantage in the

social hierarchy Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power (social and political). ...

, to enforce one's position in relation to others. This can also be used as a tactic to gain advantage of their opponent's irrational reaction. Taunting is committed by either directly or indirectly encouraging others to taunt the target. The target may give a response in kind to maintain status, as in

fighting words Fighting words are spoken words intended to provoke a retaliatory act of violence against the speaker. In United States constitutional law, the term describes words that inflict injury or would tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. ...

and

trash-talk Trash talk is a form of spoken insult usually found in sports events, although it is not exclusive to sports or similarly characterized events. It is often used to intimidate the opposition and/or make them less confident in their ability to wi ...

. Taunts are also a genre of

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

according to "The Poetic Rites of Conversation," by John H. McDowell, published in the ''Journal of Folklore Research''. The practice of taunting has a rich historical context, dating back to ancient times. In medieval warfare, for instance, taunting was a common psychological tactic used to provoke enemies or undermine their morale. A notable example of this can be found in the account of the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

(1415) during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. Before the battle, the English and French forces faced each other, exchanging taunts designed to provoke an attack. As recorded by eyewitness accounts, the two armies engaged in verbal sparring, with each side attempting to goad the other into making the first move. This

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), has been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations ( MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

was an integral part of the battle strategy, demonstrating how taunting has long been used as a tool in conflict.

Verbal taunts

The act of taunting can be learned by observation and improvisation. It usually follows linear thought, correlating or building in some manner to the target of taunting. Things such as the victim's appearance,

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

, mannerisms,

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, background, past offenses, etc. can otherwise be insulted. When used in this manner, th
effectiveness of a taunt
at provoking a response varies depending on how the specific insult relates to its victim (or their

sense of self A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...

), to what level of offense they regard the taunt, and how well the victim can control their emotions when responding. Taunts may be expressed in song. In the Eastern U.S. and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, the chant " Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah", sung to the tune of " Bye, baby Bunting" is an insult among children.D. Albright
''Untwisting the serpent: modernism in music, literature, and other arts''
. Daniel . University of Chicago Press, 2000. p. 94. In the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

, this is often used as "Nanny nanny boo-boo" and repeated with words such as "You ca-an't catch me". In

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, the taunt is "Na na, banana" or "Na-na-na banana" (means the same as in English). In French, the taunt uses syllables often rendered "Nananananère", and Swedish-speaking children use the phrase "Du kan inte ta mig" ("You cannot catch me"). There are several passages in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Isaiah 14:4-8,Biblehub.com
Topical Encyclopedia: Taunt-song
accessed on 27 January 2025 Habakkuk 2:6-8, and Zechariah 11:1-3.

Gestures

Certain movements of one's body are, in many cultures, interpreted as a taunt. These can be expressed through the

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

finger A finger is a prominent digit (anatomy), digit on the forelimbs of most tetrapod vertebrate animals, especially those with prehensile extremities (i.e. hands) such as humans and other primates. Most tetrapods have five digits (dactyly, pentadact ...

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...

and other areas of the body.

Akanbe

A gesture in

Japanese culture Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...

, made by pulling a lower eyelid down to expose the red underneath.

Clenched fist

A raised, clenched fist is used as a gesture of defiance by a number of groups. It is usually considered to be hostile, yet without any sexual, scatological, or notionally offensive connotations. It is believed to have originally been used in the early 20th century as popular democratic symbol.

Crotch-grab

The crotch-grab is done almost exclusively by males. It is, as the name suggests, a grabbing (or one-handed cupping and lifting) of the

penis A penis (; : penises or penes) is a sex organ through which male and hermaphrodite animals expel semen during copulation (zoology), copulation, and through which male placental mammals and marsupials also Urination, urinate. The term ''pen ...

and

testicles A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of androgens, primarily testosterone. The ...

– usually through clothing. In

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

the sign is by no means purely a taunt, being also an apotropaic gesture of considerable antiquity employed, since the days of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, to ward off the

evil eye The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glaring, glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to Apotropaic, protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures i ...

or bad luck and also to attract good luck. It is, in this context, an invocation of the benign powers of

fertility Fertility in colloquial terms refers the ability to have offspring. In demographic contexts, fertility refers to the actual production of offspring, rather than the physical capability to reproduce, which is termed fecundity. The fertility rate ...

embodied in the male

genitalia A sex organ, also known as a reproductive organ, is a part of an organism that is involved in sexual reproduction. Sex organs constitute the primary sex characteristics of an organism. Sex organs are responsible for producing and transporting ...

and, as such, lies at the root of the magical intent expressed symbolically in the fascinum and probably also the cornicello. Despite recent rulings by the Italian legal system, the (public) crotch-grab is still used by some Italian men as a means of deflecting the ill-luck threatened by objects or people related to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

and (more esoterically) the unlucky number 17 (said to be unlucky because it a) resembles a man hanging from a

gibbet Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hanged on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. Occasionally, the gibbet () was also used as a method of public ex ...

and b) because when written XVII in Roman numerals is an anagram of 'vixi' – 'I lived', a

verb form In linguistics, conjugation ( ) is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection (alteration of form according to rules of grammar). For instance, the verb ''break'' can be conjugated to form the words ''break'' ...

considered unlucky because of its frequent occurrence in ancient Roman

funerary A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

inscriptions).

Cutthroat

The cutthroat gesture is performed by drawing the hand, or a finger (usually the thumb) or two, across the throat. It represents slitting the throat with a knife, and means that the gesturee or someone else is metaphorically being killed. It is rarely if ever used literally to refer to death (and when the whole hand is used, it is usually a benign signal to stop or pause something), though it is occasionally used as a theatrical threat ("I'm going to kill you"). The gesture earned a great deal of national notoriety in the NFL during the 1999 season in which several players did the cutthroat gesture.

Middle finger

The finger gesture or "middle finger" is a gesture consisting of a fist with the middle finger extended, optionally extending the thumb as well. It is equivalent to the phrase " fuck you" due to its resemblance to the

. It is thousands of years old, being referred to in Ancient Roman literature as the ''digitus infamis'' or ''digitus impudicus.'' Performing this gesture is also referred to as "flipping the bird", which is a combination of slang derived from the 1860s expression "give the big bird" (to hiss at someone like a goose) and the 1960s "up yours" hand gesture. In some regions, "flipping the bird" refers to the raising of the middle and index finger with the back of the hand directed at the recipient. It can also mean "Victory", which is not to be mistaken for the "Peace" gesture. The "Peace" gesture is done with the palm facing the recipient of the gesture. In Britain, this is also the case; however, if the palm faces inwards (towards the person doing the "peace" sign), it is an offensive gesture in Britain, though not considered quite as rude as "the middle finger".

Loser

The "loser" gesture used in some countries is performed by raising the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the m ...

and

thumb The thumb is the first digit of the hand, next to the index finger. When a person is standing in the medical anatomical position (where the palm is facing to the front), the thumb is the outermost digit. The Medical Latin English noun for thumb ...

of one's right hand

perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

to each other and then placing them on one's forehead with index finger pointing upward. So placed, the fingers form the letter "L" from the perspective of a viewer and signify the name-calling insult "loser" directed toward the person being spoken to or spoken about. The gesture can also be performed as a dance of sorts by placing the "L" shape on your head, grabbing your crotch, and hopping from one foot to another. This gesture was created in early 2018 as a purchasable emote "Take the L" in the video game Fortnite. It became such a problem that

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...

, developers of Fortnite, were forced to add a setting to "disable confrontational emotes" in April 2024.

Shocker

Done by holding up the hand with the index, middle and pinky finger, implying the act of putting two fingers in a woman's vagina and one in her anus.

Tongue

Often sticking one's

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

out at another is seen as mocking the other. A variation of this is also known as

blowing a raspberry Blowing a raspberry, also known as giving a Bronx cheer, is to make a noise similar to flatulence that may signify derision. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing. A raspberry when used with the tongue is not used in any ...

. It can also be wagged in a manner suggesting

cunnilingus Cunnilingus is an oral sex act consisting of the stimulation of a vulva by using the tongue and lips. The clitoris is the most sexually sensitive part of the vulva, and its stimulation may result in a woman becoming sexually aroused or achievi ...

, which is usually seen as highly vulgar.

Turkey face

The turkey face gesture is when you take your hand and put your thumb on your nose, wriggle your head back and forth and do the same thing with the hand. Cocking a snook is an old British taunting gesture in which the thumb of one hand is on the nose and the extended fingers are wiggled.

V sign

The insulting version of the gesture (with the palm inwards) is often compared to the offensive gesture known as "

the finger "The finger", or the middle finger (as in giving someone the (middle) finger, flipping the bird or flipping someone off) is an obscene hand gesture. The gesture communicates moderate to extreme contempt, and is roughly equivalent in meaning t ...

". The "two-fingered salute", as it is also known, is commonly performed by flicking the V upwards from wrist or elbow. The

V sign The ''V'' sign is a hand gesture in which the index and middle fingers are raised and parted to make a ''V'' shape while the other fingers are clenched. It has various meanings, depending on the circumstances and how it is presented. When dis ...

, when the palm is facing toward the person giving the sign, has long been an insulting gesture in England,, British Shakespeare Company, accessed 23 April 2008. and later in the rest of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

; its use is largely restricted to the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. It is frequently used to signify defiance (especially to authority), contempt or derision.

Wanker

The wanker gesture is made with a loose fist (with all fingers forming a cylindrical shape), and shaken up and down (or sometimes, back and forth) at the wrist, suggesting

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

. A picture of the young

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

, later the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

(1997–2007), using the wanker gesture became widely available (although copyrighted) in 2007.

In popular culture

In the 1975

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

film ''

Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film based on the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and ...

'', the French Knight taunts

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

and his companions with a series of increasingly ludicrous insults, culminating in "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries". Versions of the Endemol quiz show '' 1 vs. 100'' based on the United States version (Australia, and to an extent, France) are known for the contestants and mob taunting each other. Similar game shows, such as '' Weakest Link'', are built on taunting a defeated player.

Video games

Some multiplayer

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s feature the ability to taunt a human opponent, using purpose-programmed dialog and gestures to show dominance. In games not featuring a dedicated "taunt" command, players have devised other ways, using the controls of the game, to taunt or harass opponents. In multiplayer FPS games, players may taunt a defeated opponent by corpse humping or tea bagging them, repeating the game's "crouch" command above the dead player's body. In shooter games which allow

melee A melee ( or ) is a confused hand-to-hand combat, hand-to-hand fight among several people. The English term ''melee'' originated circa 1648 from the French word ' (), derived from the Old French ''mesler'', from which '':wikt:medley, medley'' and ...

attacks, a common way of taunting opponents is to kill them without using a gun. In the

EA Sports UFC ''EA Sports UFC'' is a mixed martial arts fighting video game developed in a collaboration between EA Canada and SkyBox Labs, and published by EA Sports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bra ...

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

series, taunting is a part of the in-game fight mechanics, using real-life gestures and moves performed by actual UFC fighters to add a psychological layer to the combat.

References

{{Gestures Human behavior Abuse