Quenelle explained: And now consider the quenelle. It consists of two movements. One is the stiff arm angled downward, with the fingers outstretched. Is this not a Verlanization of the Nazi Sieg heil! in which the stiff arm and fingers were angled upward? It is the physical equivalent of saying moef instead of femme.
But, you ask, what about the other movement of the quenelle, in which the hand of the unextended arm is placed on the shoulder of the extended one? This does not appear to be part of an upside-down Nazi salute, which was commonly given, as can be seen in photographs of sieg-heiling Germans, with the arm that was not saluting hanging by ones side. To Verlanize that arm, one would have to hold it up in the air rather than place its hand on the shoulder of the saluting arm.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/190967/is-quenelle-backwards-version-of-nazi-salute/#ixzz2urXfVfSr