What is the Gallic shrug?
Mmm… Let’s see…
First of all – but I could be wrong – I’m under the impression that the Gallic Shrug “exists” only in the English speaking world, or should I say in the eyes of the English speaking world.
I don’t think I have ever heard of the Gallic shrug in the mouth of people from other countries. I’d say it’s most likely because:
- Most other countries have their own equivalent to the Gallic shrug.
- I guess it surprises (or used to surprise) or even shocks Anglos to encounter this behavior in France (you know how they are with France, always fantasizing and imagining France as heaven on Earth and other silly things like that) while they expect it and are not surprised by it in other countries that are “less civilized” in their unconscious mind.
What does it consist in?
Well, you’ll find sites, books, people that’ll tell you it’s a shrug, with sometimes a pout or whatever else.
Actually, I think that the Gallic shrug is more a state of mind than an actual gesture.
For example, I personally almost never shrug when I do a Gallic shrug.
What does it mean?
Well, it basically means “I didn’t mess it up, you did (or somebody else), not me, so why should it be my problem?”
It’s more or less the French equivalent to “Deal with it” and/or “Shit happens.”
I assume that it’s an issue for some Anglos, and especially some Americans because they’re under the strange assumption that they never have to fix their own problems or clean after themselves, that there always will be someone to do it for them, while the gallic shrug is basically telling them “not my problem, yours”.
A good example is customer service.
While I agree that customer service is good in the US and sometimes sucks in France (but not as much as Anglos think, they just don’t know the unwritten rules), the general understanding that the one who pays has all the rights, and the one that is being paid is basically a slave to the former one just doesn’t apply in France.
Money doesn’t regulate the relation between customers and sellers. It just happens to be one of the two items that are being exchanged within the larger frame of that relation.
Hence, people will encounter the “Gallic shrug” if they ask the wrong person to solve their problem. Because not any staff member of a store will help you when you have a problem, only the person whose job is to solve this problem will do so, if such a person exists.
OK, I can’t finish that relatively short post without showing you what the Gallic shrug is supposed to look like. Here are my attempts at the best possible Gallic shrug (understand: the most stereotypical), over not one but two shooting sessions. Which one is the best?
If you liked what you’ve just read
Well, first thank you.
Maybe you want to thank me too. If this is the case, the best way to do so is to share this post on your social media of choice or to link to it from your own website.
The second best way to thank me is to pay me. If you think that my writing is worth something, donations are more than gladly accepted. Just click the button and enter the amount of your choice: 
Thanks in advance.
25 thoughts on “What is the Gallic shrug?”
Bottom row, middle. That’s the best. ^^
PS: “The general understanding that the one who pays has all the rights, and the one that is being paid is basically a slave to the former one just doesn’t apply in France.” If only it didn’t apply to eikaiwa in Japan, either …
Ru,
The pictures show in random order, so not sure which one you mean. 🙂
Yeah, customer service makes me uncomfortable in Japan too at times.
Great post. I think each of your photos is good – it’s the facial expression that’s the clincher!
LOL thanks.
I want to underline that I never actually make those facial expressions in “real life”
The top with the horizontal stripes is uber-French.
As a French person myself i think the middle one in the top row is the most accurate because the Gallic shrug is mostly about the expression on the face and the photo on the middle of the top row is how I’ve always done the Gallic shrug and how I’ve always seen people do it… 🙂
Jason and Nathan,
I’m afraid I need to remind you that the pictures appear in random order (but when you hover with your mouse, the name/number of the picture appear)
Hi !
I’m french too. You’re right David, the Gallic shrug as you called it and as we use it in France means a lot of things. Most of the time (i mean spontaneously) it means : I don’t know / I can’t say / I have no idea…
When the pout turns into a “kind of” little smile, it means : Shit happens / C’est la vie…
and when the palms are exposed, raised up (at the level of the chest, i would say) it means : It’s not my business / I have nothing to do with that…
Wish I am clear
noticed it alot while hitchhiking
I think that the Gallic shrug became synonymous with Robert De Niro in America.
How so?
actually, yeah, I see it, but it’s exaggerated with him even more than in these pictures. Think of the way he’ll hunch his shoulders up and put his hands out while sarcastically telling someone what they did… It’s the same idea, ‘What do you want me to do about it, eh?’ But more hostile, because if there’s not a spoken ‘moron’ you can feel that’s what he means lol.
This is exactly what I’ve been searching for. My former French teacher in Québec would often make that “gallic shrug”. Moreover my mother language is not English, it was such a great difficulty for me in learning French.
Looking back on it now, everything becomes clear.
Thanks for your valuable posting.
You’re very welcome.
However, I’m not sure the Quebeckers do the same Gallic Shrug.
Thank you very much! P.S. It applies in Greece 🙂 (alongside with a variation that reminds of “we got a badass over here)
The things you forgot to include are puffing away on a Gauloise and a speech bubble saying “bof”.
That’s just a little bit cliché, don’t you think?
Indeed, but then this whole article is about a French cliché: – the part about the Gauloise and saying “bof” was taking the existing cliché even further.
My husband is French; I’m American, and we live in the States. One of our 4 yo twin daughters takes after his side of the family more, especially physically. Lately, we’ve been noticing that she does a “Gallic shrug” naturally whereas our other daughter doesn’t. Seems like it might be partly genetic 🙂
I think of the Gallic shrug as more of a shoulder shrug/head tilt, involving less arm action than in the photos. And always the kinda smile as opposed to pout. But maybe I’m thinking of the American version.
The “American version” of the Gallic shrug… What an interest concept… You know what “Gallic” means, right?
I am dealing with a (fairly minor) customer service problem with SNCF at the moment and am SO tired of the Gallic Shrug, AKA not giving a shit. Seriously what gets me about France is that YOU must follow the rules perfectly, but if the system is in some way broken (in this case it was an out-of-service ticket machine) it is still your problem… not the system`s. Nobody cares. It is very lonely and frustrating.
May I redirect you to this post?
https://www.davidplusworld.com/how-to-deal-with-french-bureaucracy/
I heard it in a song by the Arctic Monkeys called No. 1 Party Anthem. It said: “The look of love, the rush of blood, the “She’s with me,” the Gallic Shrug,” and I really have no idea what that means,
Read Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” for a quintessentially American take on the Gallic Shrug. It’s an image that sticks in the mind.