A homegrown "foreign" language - American Sign Language
- Thread starter Chase
- Start date
Beep!
This week's bump-up deafie joke is an oldie about a guy who went out for a smoke and couldn't remember which motel cabin was where his wife was still asleep, so he went to his car and . . .
Pepsi made it into a cute 30-second commercial for the last Superbowl.
It's called "Bob's House." It's all in ASL, but there are subtitles for the sign language-impaired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A
This week's bump-up deafie joke is an oldie about a guy who went out for a smoke and couldn't remember which motel cabin was where his wife was still asleep, so he went to his car and . . .
Pepsi made it into a cute 30-second commercial for the last Superbowl.
It's called "Bob's House." It's all in ASL, but there are subtitles for the sign language-impaired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A
ROFL! I remembered the punchline after they said they had to find Bob's house. I think I saw a CODA guy do this in an ASL stand-up comedy act (with a speech interpreter for the ASL-impaired, of course...).
I saw this commercial at the gym today, I thought it was cool. Hands Can Do Incredible Things.
I saw this commercial at the gym today, I thought it was cool. Hands Can Do Incredible Things.
Thanks, Sara. Kitty, your AHA CPR video is terrific. I carry a one-way face airway, so I still do breaths and compressions, but I'm sending this to all my friends.
For those unfamiliar: CODA = child(ren) of deaf adult(s)
For those unfamiliar: CODA = child(ren) of deaf adult(s)
More youtubiness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuHbwPx4lWE ASL video for Michael Franti's new video "The Sound of Sunshine". I'm not certain of the utility of an ASL music video, but if nothing else there's a really pretty girl and it's an awesome song.
Yep, VERY pretty girl. She was signing? I must've missed it.
I watched the video several more times. Dang! I forgot to try to see if she was signing again.
I remember seeing a video of an autistic comedian doing a song by Jewel in Makaton. A bit of quirky humour there.
This week's bump-up stab at humor:
What do deafies term jerseys with athletes' names over their numbers?
Clothes captions, of course.
What do deafies term jerseys with athletes' names over their numbers?
Clothes captions, of course.
Mugged by Brownies
Just when I thought it was safe to go to the grocery store.
Leaving Fred Meyers this morning, I was waylaid by miniature hooded thugs (thugettes?) all wearing pins showing cavorting Brownies or GS, which I gather stands for Gang Selling, because they demanded all my money and left me with boxes of Thin Mints.
No mercy was given even after I pleaded deaf. In fact after one little person signed "Thank you," I made the mistake of signing "Your welcome" and was held hostage until every word and phrase the pixies wanted to know had been demonstrated and practiced.
Be careful out there. They're hunting in packs.
Just when I thought it was safe to go to the grocery store.
Leaving Fred Meyers this morning, I was waylaid by miniature hooded thugs (thugettes?) all wearing pins showing cavorting Brownies or GS, which I gather stands for Gang Selling, because they demanded all my money and left me with boxes of Thin Mints.
No mercy was given even after I pleaded deaf. In fact after one little person signed "Thank you," I made the mistake of signing "Your welcome" and was held hostage until every word and phrase the pixies wanted to know had been demonstrated and practiced.
Be careful out there. They're hunting in packs.
To randomly go back to the main topic, my little sister is still learning some baby sign language (she's almost five) and she gets really frustrated when people don't already know what she's saying.
When I was in kindergarten, my brothers and I decided to spend a term living with my dad. The nearest school to him was a school that mixed deaf and non-deaf together, so I learned the alphabet. That was about it.
When I was in kindergarten, my brothers and I decided to spend a term living with my dad. The nearest school to him was a school that mixed deaf and non-deaf together, so I learned the alphabet. That was about it.
Good for her. I hope she's learning for fun and not out of necessity. My older sis was born deaf, so I picked up ASL along with English.
I imagine it's even more frustrating for your sis with so many hearing people these days making up little hand signs having nothing to do with ASL. Ha ha ha, anyway, it's often frustrating for me.
Learning to fingerspell is a great start on ASL. Most hand forms for letters and numbers are bases for words or phrases.
For instance, the crossed forefinger and middle finger R-hand begin ASL signs for "ready," restroom," "rectangle," "relative," and the verb "are" among others.
Even when I could hear, fingerspelling and ASL proved worthwhile in countless ways.
Oh, no, Chase, my little sister isn't learning out of necessity. My mother's homeschooling her and teaching her whatever she seems interested in. She hears just fine. I always wonder what it would be like to be colorblind or blind or deaf or to lack a sense of smell, etc. How interesting it would be and devastating it would seem...
*blush* The only other word I know is "beer" because my mom got me a book of phrases and I was young and stupid so I learned it. >.<'
How long have you been able to sign?
*blush* The only other word I know is "beer" because my mom got me a book of phrases and I was young and stupid so I learned it. >.<'
How long have you been able to sign?
Depending on where you are, "beer" is said with at least two signs:
One is the Y-hand tipped up like a stein (thumb to lips). I think it has to do with the yellowish color of some beer, but I'm not sure.
The other is the B-hand with the forefinger touching the cheek and drawn down a few inches. It's more subtle, but the sign is also close to "blonde."
My older sister was born deaf, so the earliest "speech" I remember included ASL. More than 65 years. I was progressively hard-of-hearing for thirty years and have been deaf ten years. Ha ha ha, most people want to know swear words first.
Below are the letters fingerspelled in order (scroll down to the pretty redhead).
http://www.wikihow.com/Fingerspell-the-Alphabet-in-American-Sign-Language
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Oooh, this thread made me remember a cool video where a guy performs Miley Cirus's Party in the USA using sign language. I thought it was incredibly cool:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKnQjBf8wM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmKnQjBf8wM
Thanks for the sign song, Dama. Steve’s exaggerated facial expressions and crisp signs and fingerspells show he’s an ASL expert. Okay, the bright tie was an unusual distraction, but he needed red to complete the USA color theme.
You gotta love song performers for the deaf and hard-of-hearing for trying to include us deafies in musical events, but most performers aren’t nearly as expert as Steve Torrence. Many leave out the gist of the lyrics to opt for more graceful hand forms and defeat the purpose of signing songs, ha ha ha
.
Steve is as accurate as he is entertaining.
Bump-up
I bumped up this seldom-visited thread, because a de-rail of the "Accidental Fix" thread went on about speechreading by the deaf.
"Latest" old deaf joke:
Taxiing along the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, wheeled about, and returned to the gate. After a half-hour wait, it finally took off.
A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by strange noises he heard in the engine," she explained.
"Wow, didn't take long to fix the engine" said the passenger.
"Fix it? In this economy?" replied the stewardess. "No, we just found a deaf pilot."
Mixing speechreading (what used to be lipreading) and signs often has some funny real-life dramas.
Last week at Burger King, I ordered a milkshake by pointing to the large vanilla shake on the menu. The girl asked, "What flavor again?"
I said vanilla and unconsciously signed the word: a slight shake of the "V" sign.
Sure enough, she came back with two milkshakes. Of course the "V" sign and the number two are the same.
My fault, so I paid for two, thankful I didn't give a thumbs up, which also means the number ten, ha ha ha.
I bumped up this seldom-visited thread, because a de-rail of the "Accidental Fix" thread went on about speechreading by the deaf.
"Latest" old deaf joke:
Taxiing along the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, wheeled about, and returned to the gate. After a half-hour wait, it finally took off.
A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by strange noises he heard in the engine," she explained.
"Wow, didn't take long to fix the engine" said the passenger.
"Fix it? In this economy?" replied the stewardess. "No, we just found a deaf pilot."
Mixing speechreading (what used to be lipreading) and signs often has some funny real-life dramas.
Last week at Burger King, I ordered a milkshake by pointing to the large vanilla shake on the menu. The girl asked, "What flavor again?"
I said vanilla and unconsciously signed the word: a slight shake of the "V" sign.
Sure enough, she came back with two milkshakes. Of course the "V" sign and the number two are the same.
My fault, so I paid for two, thankful I didn't give a thumbs up, which also means the number ten, ha ha ha.
Yes, we who sign ASL realize BSL and Auslan are signed differently. They're so different that we often have to write back and forth when face-to-face. Especially me, as I can't speechread UK and Aussy accents quickly enough to follow.
ASL was developed in the early 1800s from an isolated community on Martha's Vineyard having many deaf residents.
Then Thomas Gallaudet, the founder of ASL, based its grammar on French, which he thought to be "the universal language." The results didn't ease communications with those who don't practice ASL.
We need a time machine to go back and fix all the differences in English.
Portuguese sign language developed in its earliest form from swedish sign language, adding in many words specific to the portuguese deaf community. For example, the days of week are based on what the deaf would eat on the institutions they lived in.
Strange to think that french culture was the biggest outside influence we had for a very long time, but we didn't use it when it came to sign language.
Strange to think that french culture was the biggest outside influence we had for a very long time, but we didn't use it when it came to sign language.
this may sound silly, but I never understood why Sign language is different in every country...I guess because they don't spell the words out... DUH
Averon has it right, Filmfeline. There is an international sign language called Gestuno, a construct by a world organization of deaf people. However, like Esperanto, the international spoken language, relatively few people know it, and it shows no indication of taking hold.
Even within the US, ASL varies in many words and idioms. For instance, a deaf friend from the southeast makes the railroad sign with the top fingers flying off: Train-go. It means you’re too late; that train is long gone--you sure missed that opportunity.
My sister and I from the Pacific northwest say the same idiom with a rising airplane sign: the rest of us have left you behind, blockhead.
I guess in their differences, all languages are the same.
Even within the US, ASL varies in many words and idioms. For instance, a deaf friend from the southeast makes the railroad sign with the top fingers flying off: Train-go. It means you’re too late; that train is long gone--you sure missed that opportunity.
My sister and I from the Pacific northwest say the same idiom with a rising airplane sign: the rest of us have left you behind, blockhead.
I guess in their differences, all languages are the same.
The title is rather misleading, but this is an absolutely fascinating thread.
Wish I could contribute more, which hopefully I can soon. You've made me very curious about Chinese sign language -- considering the vastness of the country and its variety of ethnicities, it should make for some very interesting research.
Wish I could contribute more, which hopefully I can soon. You've made me very curious about Chinese sign language -- considering the vastness of the country and its variety of ethnicities, it should make for some very interesting research.