forum SignWriting List Forum
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From:  "Angus B. Grieve-Smith"
Date:  Mon Oct 18, 1999  2:46 pm
Subject:  Re: sign for German/Germany


> "The old ASL sign for Germany with the index finger at the head is
> "representing the helmets from World War I"...at least that is what I
> am told. And I was told that Deaf people in Germany felt offended by
> that sign used in the USA - ..."

I shared an apartment this summer with Christian Rathmann, a Deaf
guy from Germany, and he used the index-finger-to-the-forehead sign, but
kept correcting himself and using the other sign. If I understand right,
the sign is not offensive in Germany, but in fact bears a resemblance to
an ASL sign meaning "horny," so Americans felt funny using it to refer to
people in "polite company." Is this true?

--
Angus B. Grieve-Smith
Linguistics Department
The University of New Mexico



  Replies Author Date
1974 Re: sign for German/Germany Ronald Dettloff Wed  10/20/1999
1976 Re: sign for German/Germany Angus B. Grieve-Smith Wed  10/20/1999
1979 Re: sign for German/Germany Valerie Sutton Wed  10/20/1999

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