Shrug vs Shrug of the shoulders

Both 'shrug' and 'shrug of the shoulders' are correct phrases, but 'shrug' is more commonly used and understood. 'Shrug of the shoulders' is a bit redundant since a shrug is already a gesture involving the shoulders.

Last updated: April 07, 2024 • 50 views

Shrug

The term 'shrug' is a common and correct way to describe the gesture of raising and lowering one's shoulders to express uncertainty or indifference.

Use 'shrug' when describing the action of raising and lowering one's shoulders to express uncertainty, indifference, or lack of knowledge.

Examples:

She gave a shrug in response to the question.
He shrugged when asked about his plans for the weekend.

Show examples from the web [+]

Robyn Chachula's Convertible Crochet Shawl uses buttons to become a shrug.
With a little shrug, Gabrielle goes back to stirring her stew.
Just shrug, armed with hammers, to attract scores of supernatural beings and begin to defend their homeland.
This is the bit where you say, "Well done, Hathaway" and I shrug.
That other 0.01% of the time, perhaps we'll just shrug like we did with the Facebook privacy scandal.
When I ask him, all I get is a shrug or a laugh or an innocent suggestion that he has a longtime companion.
I said I was impressed, and I got a stank shoulder shrug.
So, what was that shrug?
CrochetBlogger: Many of my readers loved the shrug that I featured on the site.
"I am confident in my acting," he says with a shrug.
Great shrug and I love the yarn color that she chose! Review of the Coming Home Poncho.
I'll show you what I mean with a look at my crochet granny square shrug.
My Crochet: Fisherman's Wool Shrug
Rocket Shrug crochet pattern for sale from ACCROchet
My Readers Offered 10% Off Gorgeous Crochet Shrug
Deanna Young sells the crochet pattern for this oversized Cross-Stitch Crochet Shrug
I've worn this Fisherman's Wool Crochet Shrug with a red outfit here before, actually.
Crochet on Etsy: Purple Convertible Shrug and other crochet patterns |
Draped cardigan Embroidered... Customers who bought this product also bought: Shrug crochet Altea Cardigan...
Pingback: 365 Ways to Wear Crochet: Fisherman's Wool Shrug - Crochet Concupiscence

Alternatives:

shoulder shrug
shoulder-shrugging gesture
raising one's shoulders in a gesture of uncertainty

Shrug of the shoulders

While 'shrug of the shoulders' is grammatically correct, it is less commonly used and somewhat redundant since a shrug already involves the shoulders.

You can use 'shrug of the shoulders' to emphasize the action of raising and lowering one's shoulders, but 'shrug' alone is more concise and widely understood.

Examples:

She gave a shrug of the shoulders to show her uncertainty.
His response was a simple shrug of the shoulders.

Show examples from the web [+]

Parliament was therefore bypassed with a shrug of the shoulders.
I asked why, and was given a shrug of the shoulders and told it was an upgrade.
At the most, pity ends with a sign or a mere shrug of the shoulders.
Especially if you're a person of substantial means, you'd pay up with a shrug of the shoulders.
"What can we do?" he demanded for the twentieth time, with a helpless shrug of the shoulders.
Do the Social Democrats interpret this as a symptom of the beginning of the limitation of trust development, or have they not rather a sympathetic shrug of the shoulders for that petty-bourgeois rebellion and a scornful smile for that State campaign?
You'll see, you'll see! Recently, one or two years ago, all these predictions would have caused only a shrug of the shoulders, what a fairy tale!
All the representatives of the Zimmerwald Left, with hardly a word being uttered - yes, almost without a word, with only a shrug of the shoulders - unanimously turned a cold shoulder to the Dutch program as being, taken altogether, notoriously unsuitable.
For years the Colombian Government's stock response has been an apologetic shrug of the shoulders.
I have heard from the presidency of the Council that it too has adopted a detached and clinical approach to the analysis of this situation and is responding to the task list with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

Alternatives:

shoulder shrug
shoulder-shrugging gesture
raising one's shoulders in a gesture of uncertainty

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