In life, not all of us are lucky enough to be able to sing La Boulette de Diam’s at karaoke. Luckily, people who are deaf can rely on sign language to sign it just as stylishly. Because contrary to what you might think, sign language is full of funny puns and surprises. It is even so well done that certain everyday gestures that we think are innocuous actually sometimes mean very embarrassing things. Far be it from me to consider myself an expert, but here are a few gestures to avoid if you don’t want sign language practitioners to laugh (with kindness and love) at you.
1. Tap your nose with your clenched fist
Tapping with the thumb side of your clenched fist on the tip of your nose is not a trivial gesture in LSF. It actually means “kiss”. To avoid misunderstanding, scratch your nose with a piece of pencil, it will avoid confusion (or unexpected threesomes).
2. Swipe your hand under your chin outward
So yes, you’re going to tell me, it’s not a gesture that we make every day to express something in particular, but a helping hand, palm towards the neck, on the chin, it happens quickly. And that means “bitch” in LSF. So not the best technique to discreetly remove the tomato sauce that has run down your face.
3. Pinch his thumb and index finger close to his head
To avoid telling the person in front of you that they are completely stupid, try not to pinch your fingers near your head as if you wanted to shake the ashes of your cig. She might take it a little badly and give you one (and it would be well deserved, no, but who do you think you are ???).
4. Put your hand perpendicular to your chin
The chin seems to be a particularly insulting area in sign language. Putting your fingertips on the tip of your chin, palm facing left or right, will be sure to make you a lot of enemies among sign language practitioners. This gesture meaning “Bitch”, in the United States in particular, is ultimately not very surprising.
5. Salute
Still in American Sign Language, the gesture of the military salute, with the hand going from the forehead to turn outward, palm down, does not mean something very nice. It can clearly be translated as “Bâtard” in LSF. And we’re not talking about the bread.
6. Pat the underside of your nose with your finger
To remove potential boogers hanging from your nostrils, you will now have to find another technique. Yes, because tapping under his nose with your finger outstretched (as if to feel it) means that you find your interlocutor pretentious. Not very nice of you to tell him.
7. Do the returned ok sign
Doing the ok sign with the circle up and your fingers down may tell others that you’re in great shape (or that you’re playing the circle game). But for the people who sign, it will definitely mean that you take them for assholes (and frankly, that’s really uncool of you).
8. Make a point-down triangle with your fingers
We see it coming from there! Thinking of miming a pizza, you will make a triangle with your hands because you have a passion for margheritas, and all the people practicing sign language around will wonder why you are talking to them about your vagina. And we too would like to know, huh, why are you doing this??
9. Imitate a cat scratching on a door
If you want to talk about your cat who broke your balls this morning when you woke up at 4 a.m. because he was scratching at your door, just tell this fascinating story without acting it out. Because the imitation of the scratching cat looks too much like the sign of the LSF which means “Ass”. And an ass that scratches at the door to claim its croquettes, it’s not common.
10. Close your fingers on your fist and stick out your middle finger
A fuck is a fuck, no matter what.