How do you sign...

cayisgreat said:
If I sign, “tonight me eat spaghetti” do I need to specify that I ate it for dinner, since I used the word ‘tonight’? Or do you still have to specify, since if it's said before dinner you can assume it's what the person is having, and if it's said AFTER, you can assume they already had it? It seems kinda repititious to say "tonight dinner me eat".. so maybe... "dinner eat spaghetti" would work? What about “today me eat eggs and toast.” (How would that be signed, actually? Could you just say ‘breakfast me eat eggs and toast’? Or even 'me eat eggs and toast, breakfast.')

Are all of you facepalming right now? :( Sorry.
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In ASL, you don't usually sign breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, if you mean the initialized signs. You sign MORNING, NOON, AFTERNOON, EVENING + EAT. That solves the redundancy problem. :)
 
In my area, we usually sign OCEAN for beach as a destination. If we want to be specific about the sandy shore at the ocean, then we add SAND, LAND, or SAND+LAND, depending on the context. If it's about the shoreline or coast then we use the sign for COAST. If it's a beach other than the local ocean area, we would spell the destination, such as L-A-K-E M-O-U-L-T-R-I-E.
 
In ASL, you don't usually sign breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, if you mean the initialized signs. You sign MORNING, NOON, AFTERNOON, EVENING + EAT. That solves the redundancy problem
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Here, the sign for breakfast is always "eat morning". Lunch and dinner are often initialized. When I asked some of the older Deaf about this, they said it was perfectly OK and now accepted in the community as ASL. Personally, I prefer how Reba has explained it - except I sign EAT before the time.
 
Daft said:
Here, the sign for breakfast is always "eat morning". Lunch and dinner are often initialized. When I asked some of the older Deaf about this, they said it was perfectly OK and now accepted in the community as ASL. Personally, I prefer how Reba has explained it - except I sign EAT before the time.
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Reba said:
In ASL, you don't usually sign breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, if you mean the initialized signs. You sign MORNING, NOON, AFTERNOON, EVENING + EAT. That solves the redundancy problem. :)
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I completely forgot I even had those options, and it does take care of the redundancy! Thank you both very much. I'm still learning that there are other options to the things I want to sign. :aw:
 
another question, how would you sign "low blood sugar"? just like that, or is there a specialized sign for it, or for hypoglycemic/hypoglycemia?
 
souggy said:
BUG and ORGASM are close enough to make a mistake...
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:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

I made fun of my wife when she said, "Bug man will come our house at 9am." I said, "Orgasm? You plan cheated on me when I am leave at 8am?" She said,"Funny, I said Orkin man. NOT Orgasm."
 
That's the sign for FASTING (abstain from eating).

Sign for FAST | ASL Sign Language Video Dictionary
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Context. It's all in context. Sometimes when you see some people bantering, one of them use the sign and in context it would mean "zip it" or "keep quiet".
 
Daft said:
Context. It's all in context. Sometimes when you see some people bantering, one of them use the sign and in context it would mean "zip it" or "keep quiet".
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Yes, hearing people use that gesture, too, often as a warning to stop someone from revealing secret or private information.
 
Anthropomorphic said:
What's the correct way to sign "Voice-Off?" I've seen this signed a few different ways.

- 'Voice' 'O-F-F (fingerspelled)'

- 'Voice' 'A sign similar to curious. Looks like you're turning a knob on your throat. Turning it off.'

- 'Voice' 'Gone'

Is there any particular way that is correct, or is it more just whatever you prefer in order to get your point across?

Thank You
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Generally , I'd say that one would almost always use the 2nd explanation - if you mean "voice off" in terms of a situation in which a person if capable of speaking but is electing not to use their voice - ie in an ASL class, at a Deaf event etc.

One would use "VOICE NONE" or something similar to indicate that they had PHYSICALLY lost the ability to speak (due to a permanent or temporary medical/physiological reason) - not that they were making the choice not to speak.

hope that helps!
 
rebeccalj said:
I don't have a specific sign question but I'm curious if anyone uses Sign Savvy to self teach ASL? Is it considered an adequate tool or is there a better site for self teach?
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Hello, I am teaching myself as well, until I have the time for actual classes. Signing Savvy is great for learning vocabulary, but in the end, all you will have is a bunch of signs for different words, and though it is good to know the signs, signs alone do not a language make. In fact, many ASL teachers, and especially the deaf ASL teachers, do not recommend dictionaries or those sort of sites for beginners. Best way is to throw yourself into ASL from a conversation standpoint, learn to actually communicate, even if it is on a remedial level for a while. Learning the basics about sentence structure, expression, etc is more important...the actual signs will be added as you become more comfortable, and you will continue to add new signs in the years to come. I really believe it is true that it can take 6 or 7 years to know ASL really well, more or less depending on the person - and of course it would make learning faster if you actually had to use ASL to communicate, such as with family or friends or in an ASL class.

This is the way I understand it, maybe I am wrong, please anyone chime in if you have any better advice for learning your language.

Also, here are two good sites for learning, with lessons...Lifeprint.com and WestwoodASL.com. Westwood isn't free, Lifeprint is. But Westwood is very inexpensive. Both come highly recommended, and Westwood teaches using pretty much the above mentioned philosophy about ASL.

Reba, THANK YOU for the DeafMD link. Very helpful.
 
Anij said:
I'd likely use "KNOW BEACH ? us-two GO-to!"



signing "BEACH " on it's own doesn't give any information about who/where/why/when etc and would make as much sense as saying out of the blue "CARROT?" and explecting someone to guess that you wanted some for dinner. Basically, it (BEACH?/CARROT?) would be an answer, not a question/statement.
(ie if someone said "where do you want to go today?" you could (hypothetically) answer with "BEACH ?"
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Awesome! :ty:
 
jenniifer said:
Hello, I am teaching myself as well, until I have the time for actual classes. Signing Savvy is great for learning vocabulary, but in the end, all you will have is a bunch of signs for different words, and though it is good to know the signs, signs alone do not a language make. In fact, many ASL teachers, and especially the deaf ASL teachers, do not recommend dictionaries or those sort of sites for beginners. Best way is to throw yourself into ASL from a conversation standpoint, learn to actually communicate, even if it is on a remedial level for a while.
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I don't want to be discouraging ... but I REALLY dislike Signing Savvy!!
There are sooo many times where I've gone there and just shook my head at the sign choices they make there. One of which was using the well known sign for GLASS as they sign for PLASTIC (which is NOT signed GLASS - ever). There are many other examples but that's the one that comes quickly to mind.

If you are looking for an accurate resource, I think that aslpro.com is the best site for both individual words AND providing hundreds of phrase examples of PROPER ASL.

Of course the best option is taking classes in person and observing correct ASL.

One option that might be of interest to some is ordering some ASL movies - some of which have English subtitles (for the ASL impaired). One such movie company is called ASL Films.
One family friendly movie available on DVD from ASL Films is called "Legend of the Mountain Man".

Movies like these not only allow people to become aware of a linguistic type of movies that they'd otherwise be unaware of ... while also allow the educational benefit of watching correct, clearly formed ASL (which is rewind-able)

hope this is helpful
 
:ty: :ty: *SO* much for all of the additional information. I used to be fluent in sign so I am trying to learn again. Too many years around hearies and I seem to have lost my native language.

I'm starting ASL I classes in about two weeks at our local University so I'll be able to apply what I'm learning with help from some of these websites.

That ASL Pro looks fabulous! As does the ASL movie site. I can't wait to explore.

Again, :ty:
 
Bottesini said:
Yes, you just take both fists and repeatedly hit your receptive audience in the ears.
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Are you serious??? :lol:
I saw a sign where you make a "C" with one hand and use two fingers from the other hand for a flapping tongue inside it. Was not sure if it was "audist", though.
 
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