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"thump your chest"

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on December 14, 2005

In Reply to: "Thump your chest" posted by Laoloup on December 14, 2005

: What does "thump your chest" mean?
: e.g. It may be smart to thump your chest and critize your friend.

Actually, it may be *hypocritical* to thump your chest while criticizing your friend. In the old days (pre-1965 or so), when Roman Catholic Mass was in L@tin, the congregation would say together "Mea cula, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa", while striking the chest three times. The phrase means roughly "I have sinned, I have sinned, I have sinned terribly".

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