Picky, picky, picky. Certainly one cannot dangle a cig from JUST the top lip except on a starship. But there are many cigarette fashion statements, as any fan of Betty Davis can explain (Davis once garnered a round of applause just for lighting a cigarette during an appearance--she raised cigarette style to high art).
So it has to do with just catching the end of the cigarette with the top lip while the bottom of the cigarette rests on the bottom lip. The result is that the cigarette dangles down at an angle. It expresses a certain attitude of arrogant indifference and disdain--laced with a testosteroned "I would stomp you but you are too boring."
John Paul Raimondo--ooops, that's Jean-Paul Belmondo--the French actor--was an example.
Justin Raimondo of antiwar.com is another classic example. See his cig-dangling visage and supercilious arrogant attitude in text at:
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html
-Chip "I only smoke cigars" Berlet
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/justincol.html
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]On Behalf Of Daniel Davies
> Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2002 1:43 AM
> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> Subject: "dangling a cigarette"
>
>
> Sorry for the offtopic meander, but it is powerfully early
> and my mind is
> wandering.
>
> For some reason, the passage that caught my eye in "Hitchens:
> Dishonorable
> Policeman of the Left" was this one:
>
> "No, he is an industry, posing in trench coat with a
> cigarette dangling
> from his top lip,
>
> [...]
>
> Hitchens now sees himself as Orwell (who, as the cover of
> Orwell's Victory
> reminds us, also dangled a cigarette from
> his top lip)"
>
> How, anatomically, does one go about dangling a cigarette
> from one's top
> lip? I've been a smoker for about sixteen years, and I don't
> think I've
> ever managed to dangle a cigarette from my top lip. It would
> just fall out
> of your mouth, surely? Short of sticking the thing there
> with chewing gum,
> I don't believe it's possible. I've had a look at the
> picture of Orwell on
> the front of Hitchens' book, and he certainly seems to be holding the
> cigarette firmly in his mouth, like a normal person:
>
> http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/071399584X.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
>
> Is this "dangling a cigarette from one's top lip" code for
> something? I'm
> confused.
>
> dd
>
>
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