Salute

A salute is a gesture or other action used to indicate respect. Salutes are primarily associated with military forces, but other organizations and even general populations use salutes.

Salutes in Fiction

In the 1984 movie 1984 (though not the novel), both soldier marching on parade and the proles at a frenzied "Two Minute Hate" are seen waving both clenched fists overhead with their wrists crossed. The power that would ordinarily be shown by the clenched fists is undercut by the wrists being held as if bound. A very similar gesture is seen in Pink Floyd's The Wall, but there the wrists are repeatedly banged together -- an expression more powerful than seen in 1984 but still frustrated.

Related Topics:
1984 - Novel - Pink Floyd - The Wall

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In the television series The Prisoner, inhabitants of The Village make a significant gesture of farewell: each forms a ring of right thumb and index finger while extending the other three fingers and looks through that ring with the right eye. He then lowers his hand toward his companion as if handing him something, while saying "be seeing you." This gesture takes its significance from the surveillance ubiquitous in The Village.

Related Topics:
Television - The Prisoner

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On the science-fiction series Babylon 5, a telepathic character uses the Prisoner salute -- except he brings the ring up to his forehead instead of his eye.

Related Topics:
Science-fiction - Babylon 5 - Telepathic

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On the British comedy series Red Dwarf, crewman Arnold Rimmer invents several elaborate salutes in an unsuccessful attempt to impress his senior officers. These include the "Triple Rimmer" (like the US military salute, except the hand is held up and rotated at the wrist three times before bringing it to the brow), the "Full Rimmer" (five rotations), and the "Two-Handed Rimmer" (for formal occasions; performing a Full Rimmer with each hand simultaneously).

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In Star Trek, the Vulcans salute by showing their right palms and spreading their middle finger and ring finger apart, while keeping their middle and index and their little and ring fingers together. Leonard Nimoy based this salute on a Jewish gesture in which the hand approximates the shape of the Hebrew letter shin, the first letter in Shaddai, a name for the Almighty.

Related Topics:
Star Trek - Vulcan - Salute - Leonard Nimoy

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In Futurama, Zapp Brannigan salutes by raising his right hand clenched in a fist face down up to his heart, then extended face down up to his right eyebrow (as in a United States military salute), then extending the arm in a horizontal arc, as if flying away. All three parts are performed in one continuous motion.

Related Topics:
Futurama - Zapp Brannigan

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In Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, the soldiers of the Hosts of Minas Tirith in Gondor salute by holding their right hand in a fist over their heart with the enclosed palm facing inwards. This is often accompanied by a half bow or a tip of the head forward, when possible.

Related Topics:
Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings - Minas Tirith - Gondor

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