A cleft chin is created when the left and right halves of the mandible fail to fuse completely during embryonic development.
It's also referred to as a "bum chin," which on first reading I assumed referred to a beggar/hobo/beach bum etc. Then I saw this comment:
My grandmother, who was French Mauritian, always told me that in Creole it was called a fes d'ange (spelling to be verified) which translated means angel's bum.Oh - that kind of "bum."
Photo gallery, via The Presurfer.
when I was a baby my great-grandmother looked at me and said, "dimple on the chin, devil within". I guess the jury is still out.
ReplyDeleteIndeed in french (not only creole) that's called having an angel's bum chin. The correct spelling is "fesse d'ange" though, I think fes is a maroccan hat.
ReplyDeleteIt never actually occurred to me that it could mean bum as in hobo. I always assumed it was just because it looked like a bum, but I wasn't aware of the Creole/French connection.
ReplyDelete