Signing For Dummies (17 page)

Sign:
ME D-E-L-L-A — NICE MEET TOO

Sharing feelings and emotions

Sharing your feelings and emotions when signing is easy because Sign is naturally so expressive. Put your heart into what you’re signing to genuinely express what you mean. Some feelings and emotions can be transmitted with minimal Sign and a lot of facial expression because people can already understand them easily.

Take a look at some Signs for feelings and emotions:

Signin’ the Sign

Dee and Buddy are at the store. Dee is shocked by the rising cost of everything. She shares her displeasure with Buddy.

Dee:
Everything is so expensive!

Sign:
EVERYTHING EXPENSIVE

Buddy:
Yes, and no sales.

Sign:
TRUE — DISCOUNTS NONE

Dee:
It’s sad; even stamps are going up.

Sign:
SAD — STAMP COST — INCREASE TOO

Buddy:
It really makes me angry.

Sign:
ANGRY ME

Dee:
Me, too.

Sign:
ME TOO

Talking countries

Signing in every country is different. Although some countries have similar Sign languages, no two are exactly alike.

When two Deaf people from different countries meet, their chances of communicating are pretty good because they’re both skilled at making their points known in their respective countries. Although their Sign languages are different, their communication skills may involve mime, writing, gestures, and pointing. People who can hear can also do those things, but their communication skills are usually more dependent on the spoken languages.

Some country name Signs that are used in ASL are offensive to those respective countries. For instance, the ASL Sign for Mexico also means “bandit,” and the Signs for Korea, Japan, and China are signed near the eye with a hand movement that indicates “slanted eyes.” Many Signers are now using the indigenous name Signs that are politically correct and aren’t offensive.

Here are the Signs for the countries in North America: