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- Mar 17, 2008
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Lend Me Your Ear!
Correct Fredfam, Your turn!
Lend Me Your Ear!
Ha ha ha, my favorite saying. Kay made a plaque for me saying, "When pigs fly!"
This ASL idiom is a single sign repeated, often three times.
Depending on the situation and your facial expression, it can mean, “What are you doing?” . . . with eyebrows raised or following a “you” sign.
It can also mean, “How do I get out of this mess?” . . . with a helpless look or following a “me” sign.
The basic sign that is repeated may be done differently by different ASL authorities, but the most common I’ve seen is:
1. Both hands open and relaxed, palms down (or facing a bit forward), in front of the torso.
2. Move the hands sideways and back.
3. To sign the idiom, move the sign sideways and back at least three times.
What is the idiom?
Who is the woman in your avatar?
DO DO DO!
Kay, my girlfriend. We're on the winding stairs of Yaquina Head Lighthouse on the Oregon coast.
Thanks. Ha ha ha, it's lucky that Kay is cute enough for both of us.
OVER MY DEAD BODY!
Chase, I am trying to come up with a sign for Sleight of Hand.
Cath, this is not very supportive. Sorry. I asked my sister, the self-styled know-it-all about the deaf world (and almost everything else). I explained that you are an innovative, creative person, but she insists that we should avoid creating new signs. There is already enough confusion with different signs that have grown naturally out of the far-flung deaf culture.
Diane says there’s already a natural, more or less standard sign for "sleight-of-hand": With both hands palms outward at shoulder height, they catch nothing, then open up to let “nothing” go, sometimes with a little move to the side.
It’s also the ASL sign for "magic," "prestidigitation," etc. To sign "magician," you follow the magic sign with both open hands extended out, waist high, about the width of your body.
Maybe some AD interpreters could give opinions.
I can understand how guessing at the precise words in deaf idioms is difficult, as most idoms are hard to figure outside their culture.
The idiom for "getting my attention" is grab-eyes, and that's what the sign tries to say.
This next one is both an idiomatic figure of speech and also can be literal.
The sign is to hold one 5-hand palm-up while the other plam-down 5-hand continually sweeps the upturned hand in a circular motion.
The literal meaning is to hide an object under something like a tarp or to obscure the view.
The figurative meaning is to suppress information or create a false story to deceive.