This is hilarious. I should share with my ASL class.

I don't think it's funny. It pisses me off.

Do you think it's offensive to deaf people? It didn't strike me that way... it seems just like the funny airline safety cards, or international symbols re-interpretations. Something about that genre of educational "action illustration" is just funny, and unfailingly provokes irreverent translation.

is American sign language really also known as 'finger spelling' (as that file says)? I thought they were two very different things - and spelling is only used when the language doesn't have a physical symbol for it. Names are usually spelled out, for instance.

Cool guide, btw

Lackluster Handjob was the name of my first puppy.

My partner, who is a sign language interpreter and studied at RIT, found this hilarious, as do I. In his words:

that's hilarious sweetie....unfortunately only one of the signs is kinda right....the abortion one does actually mean abortion, but it doesn't have anything to do with xmas. heehee.....all of the other signs are pretty basic verbs or numbers or sport names.....

Thanks for the laughs.

"Is American sign language really also known as 'finger spelling' (as that file says)?"

No. Finger spelling is what it sounds like it is. Then there's "signed English", which is a kind of direct transliteration of English. Then there is American Sign Language, which is an actual language, not crude gestures, and doesn't have anything to do with English.

I think "I want to pull the shrieking voices from my head and smoosh them" is my favourite.

kmellis, it could be construed as rude. It depends on how you take it, of course. And, similar to Alex, I have an aunt who taught (she's retired now) in a deaf school in Oregon. She finds stuff like this hilarious (and I'm going to send it to her) and says so did her students.

When in grade school, one of the things girls did (I don't know why boys didn't) was to learn finger spelling so we could talk to each other in class without being busted by the teacher.

I was disappointed to learn that sign language around the world is not the same. I think it would be cool to have some sort of universal language and sign language would fit the bill nicely. Ah well.

I was disappointed to learn that sign language around the world is not the same. I think it would be cool to have some sort of universal language and sign language would fit the bill nicely. Ah well.

Dan and I were in Montreal last summer and a deaf French Canadian fellow came up and signed with him. It was the first time Dan had been in Quebec.

Dan was really surprised because he had done some interpreting in France some years back and it looks like deaf French Canadians learn the same signs and mannerisms taught in France.

Sign language is really its own beast.

now explain why everything i find on the web now is french?
when did everything go french?
are we french now?

Metachat: I don't think it's funny. It pisses me off.