Speaking of "mute"...

Interpretrator

Interpretrator

Crime fighter
Premium Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2004
Messages
1,440
Reaction score
4
I got a great case of laryngitis yesterday, the cure for which is to talk as little as possible (not even whispering) until you get better. So my fiancé got home and I was trying to sign with him. Unfortunately he only knows a very few signs, including the manual alphabet. So there I was mouthing like crazy and signing, trying to make him understand...I kind of felt like one of us was Helen Keller and the other was Anne Sullivan, but I didn't know which one. :giggle:

I think I better work harder on teaching him sign, although it didn't go too badly. I did end up typing a lot of stuff to him but I managed to tell him a funny story about our cats in sign/mime.
 
:giggle:
That's awesome. Not the laryngitis part but the story part. :D
Hope you get better soon!!
 
I taught my roommate a few basic signs last year when I had mastoiditis and couldn't wear my hearing aids ... he still knows a few (maybe a dozen phrases - "PIZZA TODAY QQ"), but what I find hilarious is his fingerspelling. He knows his time-numbers, but the only alphabet he remembers is I-M (usually followed by "ME").

In his defense, a lot of our attempts at signing ended with a look of frustration (by either of us) and that phrase ...
 
LOL that is great. I hope you get better. I have thought about the same thing if I ever get laryngitis now that I know sign it wouldn’t be a problem with my Deaf friends, my family on the other hand. I need to get busy teaching my sister and her husband sign anyway.

I have also thought about faking Laryngitis at Deaf parties if there is a hearing person. I know that is bad but they usually wind up being some one I don’t want to talk to but they follow me around the entire time. I guess that is mean of me. I have never done it though because I am a sweetie! LOL
 
Southern said:
I know that is bad but they usually wind up being some one I don’t want to talk to but they follow me around the entire time. I guess that is mean of me. I have never done it though because I am a sweetie! LOL
Click to expand...

It definitely does happen that hearing people who are not confident in their signing skills will sometimes latch on to other hearing people at deaf events. I've always wondered about that because...why go at all? It doesn't really bug me unless they speak to me without signing at the same time, which I find rude at a deaf event. Like you, I can't quite blow them off, although I certainly will sim-com until they get the point. I had to do that with classmates from my own ITP, which was extra annoying.

As an aside, I remember the first deaf event I ever went to, and finding it interesting how the HOH people and the Deaf people kind of self-segregated for most of the party. I'm not saying this always happens, but it does back up the idea that people like to gather with others who share their linguistic/cultural identity. Like you, Southern, I was a little dismayed when I wound up at the table with non-signers, but luckily the Deaf people stayed to the bitter end and they were nice enough to let me join them. Despite my complete noob signing.

Anyway, my fiancé is spared trying to understand my signing for now, but we do need to get back to those lessons! Thanks for the nice wishes.
 
Last edited:
Ah... there's another great excuse for learning sign language!

Not just deaf people but mute people! :thumb:
 
Yeah i try to shake them but they continue to follow me. What gets me are the ones that come to a Deaf party, knowing it is a Deaf party and they cannot sign at all, period. I walk in the door and hear, "can anyone that just walked in hear me???" i want to just walk on by because i know what will happen. It is like being traped in an elevator and being made to talk to some one that you have no interest speaking to.... for HOURS. I can't be mean though. I wind up talking to them even though i am extremely annoyed. It isn't their fault after all, well in a way it is they knew what they were getting into going to a place that you don't know the language but still gggrrrrr
 
wow I know what it is like to lose your voice, it has happened to me alot, I am always sick

I try to teach my bf sign but he is useless! LOL and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
 
RDC_girl said:
I try to teach my bf sign but he is useless! LOL and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
Click to expand...

Ha ha, I know what you mean. Mine is not ever destined to be a great signer, but he could probably hold his own if our lessons were more consistent.

Last week when I couldn't talk we had a discussion about the different ways to say "you're welcome" in ASL. Last night he surprised me when I thanked him for something when his mouth was full, and he signed "you're welcome." Heh.
 
LOL! I can relate. The Sign II class here at the university decided to do a silent lunch, and I went in to join them. I was just signing away, and they were all just staring at me with these glazed expressions on their faces and not responding! So I tried to simplify things, still no response. I ended up miming, and pointing, and all sorts of stuff to try to get them to understand. I felt like Charlie Chaplin, and was exhausted when it was over!
 
Interpretrator said:
Ha ha, I know what you mean. Mine is not ever destined to be a great signer, but he could probably hold his own if our lessons were more consistent.

Last week when I couldn't talk we had a discussion about the different ways to say "you're welcome" in ASL. Last night he surprised me when I thanked him for something when his mouth was full, and he signed "you're welcome." Heh.
Click to expand...

I tried to teach his the alphabet, start at the beginning right, well his hands just dont work right! He cannot touch his pinky with his thumb so W, 6, any sign involving that hand shape he cannot do.
 
Back
Top