# ASL: What a particular sign means **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624 "2016-04-09T05:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/1 "2016-04-09T05:30:27Z")
In an episode of _Emergency_ in which Carol McEvoy appeared, her character was the mother of a 12-year-old deaf girl trapped in a burning house. After Johnny got her safely outside, the girl signed to her mother, apparently about Johnny: she had her left hand with the palm facing to the right and stroked the top of it several times with the right hand, which was formed into the ASL letter “A.” What does that sign mean? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/2 "2016-04-09T05:41:18Z")
“Help,” probably. If you look it up in a book, it’ll show it palm up, but the way people actually sign, the palm gets angled a little. The A if from “aider,” “to help” in French. French Sign Language is the basis of ASL. I’m assuming you mean she was stroking her palm with the pinky side of her fist. If she was stroking it with her thumb, it means “cut.” If it was with the tops of her fingers of her closed hand, then it means “scrub.” Whatever Johnny did, pick the sign that is most appropriate. If he helped, which I presume he did, that one fits. If he performed a tracheostomy, then maybe cut. If he cleaned a large wound, maybe scrub, although I think “wash” or “clean” would be more appropriate. I must not have seen this episode since I learned to sign. If you can figure out which one it is-- which season, and which ep., I’ll watch it and let you know. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/3 "2016-04-09T12:32:39Z")
Are there ASL-English dictionaries? I mean, like translation dictionaries for other languages? Is there an order to looking up signs to see their English translation? For example, all the open hand signs first, then all the closed hand signs, that kind of ordering strategy? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/4 "2016-04-09T12:39:47Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Are there ASL-English dictionaries? I mean, like translation dictionaries for other languages? > > Is there an order to looking up signs to see their English translation? For example, all the open hand signs first, then all the closed hand signs, that kind of ordering strategy? No, but that’d be a great dissertation project for someone. ETA: I was an ASL interpreter for 15+ years, and a fluent signer for 29. I’ve given him the correct answer in there somewhere. If I can see the episode, I know I will recognize it, though I’m willing to bet money it’s “help.” Probably they kid isn’t deaf, which is why they gave her a single sign, instead of saying “He helped me,” or “He saved me.” ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/5 "2016-04-09T12:54:45Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Are there ASL-English dictionaries? I mean, like translation dictionaries for other languages? > > Is there an order to looking up signs to see their English translation? For example, all the open hand signs first, then all the closed hand signs, that kind of ordering strategy? Over the years, I’ve been a big advocate of [SignWriting](http://www.signwriting). On that site, you can find [a few dictionaries](http://signbank.org/dictionaries/) using that writing system for the signs. The dictionaries providing the written signs should be using Sutton’s “sign-symbol-sequence” for ordering. [Here](http://www.signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0120-SSS-US.pdf) is a PDF of that scheme. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/6 "2016-04-09T12:55:37Z")
Would that be the noun “help”, or the verb “help”, or is that not a distinction made in ASL? And would that single sign be a grammatical way to say “he helped me”, or would it be interpreted as “I need help”, like the word by itself would be in English? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/7 "2016-04-09T13:09:49Z")
If she stroked the palm of her left hand several time with the fist of her rightm pinky down, it’s the noun help. But you have to remember, someone probably looked it up in _The Joy of Signing_, a book written by a hearing person, and not popular among Deaf people. If she put her fist in her palm and left it the, thumb up, then moved both hands from herself toward Johnny, it’d be “I helped him” If she moved it from his direction toward herself, it’d be “he helped me.” If she moved it back and forth between them briefly with her eyebrows raised, then toward a third person, and lowered her eyebrows, it’s be “We helped he/her/it/them.” ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/8 "2016-04-09T13:27:39Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > […] > Here is a PDF of that scheme. Whoooaaaa… that is SERIOUSLY impressive! Makes me want to take a beginner introduction to the language! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/9 "2016-04-09T13:47:10Z")
What has been suggested is a reverse dictionary for ASL. Formalization for text of static gestures for print (verbal description or images) let alone dynamic ones, is difficult. It is scarcely easier for moving-pictures, as a matter of indexing. [ASL Reverse Dictionary](http://www.handspeak.com/word/asl-eng/) is a quickie implementation; I have no experience with it. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/10 "2016-04-09T15:56:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > […]If she moved it from his direction toward herself, it’d be “he helped me.” […]" This is most likely, since Johnny carried the girl out of a burning house, as I noted above. The girl was communicating something to her relieved mother. She had her left hand flat, palm open, palm facing right, with the thumb at top. Right hand formed into an “A,” stroking the top of the left hand in a motion much like petting a cat. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/11 "2016-04-09T16:38:43Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > She had her left hand flat, palm open, palm facing right, with the thumb at top. Right hand formed into an “A,” stroking the top of the left hand in a motion much like petting a cat. Sounds like they were going for “help,” but the child wasn’t really deaf, and they looked it up in book, or got a hearing person whose own knowledge might have been little shaky to show her, and she didn’t get it quite right. I’m very curious to see it. Can you identify it from IMDb, and I can look for it online, and watch this scene myself? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/12 "2016-04-09T16:47:14Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Sounds like they were going for “help,” but the child wasn’t really deaf, and they looked it up in book, or got a hearing person whose own knowledge might have been little shaky to show her, and she didn’t get it quite right. I’m very curious to see it. Can you identify it from IMDb, and I can look for it online, and watch this scene myself? I found it. It was “One of Those Days,” Season 5, Episode 8. My own title for it, used on my audio recording, was, “A Waste of Time, Again.” The child actually WAS deaf–in the story line. The incident was rather late in the episode; they always had one big rescue or fire (or both) per episode. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/13 "2016-04-09T17:31:30Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I found it. It was “One of Those Days,” Season 5, Episode 8. My own title for it, used on my audio recording, was, “A Waste of Time, Again.” The child actually WAS deaf–in the story line. The incident was rather late in the episode; they always had one big rescue or fire (or both) per episode. I found the episode on Netflix. She said “He [Gage] is nice.” She actually has two open, flat palms, (the B-handshape), and one is facing up, the other down, as she stokes them, palm together. It’s a pretty ordinary sign that you see every day. The sign she used for hurt, I’d never seen before. It must be either regional, or not used anymore. Or it was a variation of “in knots.” I mean, if she’d said it to me, I would have known what she’d meant. And she looked like she may actually have been Deaf, judging by the way she signed. Going back to watch the rest of the ep. in case they show her again. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/14 "2016-04-10T04:26:56Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I found the episode on Netflix. She said “He [Gage] is nice.” > > She actually has two open, flat palms, (the B-handshape), and one is facing up, the other down, as she stokes them, palm together. It’s a pretty ordinary sign that you see every day. > > The sign she used for hurt, I’d never seen before. It must be either regional, or not used anymore. Or it was a variation of “in knots.” I mean, if she’d said it to me, I would have known what she’d meant. > > And she looked like she may actually have been Deaf, judging by the way she signed. > > Going back to watch the rest of the ep. in case they show her again. I know a tiny bit of of asl and your description of nice matches my own - butI’m confused about the original description. A shape petting a sideways b? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/15 "2016-04-10T04:35:44Z")
Outside of edit: here is an English to asl dictionary: > **[ASL Dictionary](http://www.lifeprint.com/dictionary.htm)** > > An American Sign Language Dictionary. This ASL Dictionary helps you find the ASL equivalents of English words. Dougie does the entry for nice look right? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/16 "2016-04-10T05:34:47Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Outside of edit: here is an English to asl dictionary: > [ASL Dictionary](http://www.lifeprint.com/dictionary.htm) > > Dougie does the entry for nice look right? Well, yes…I haven’t seen the episode in a while, but I’ll take your word for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/17 "2016-04-10T06:28:40Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I know a tiny bit of of asl and your description of nice matches my own - butI’m confused about the original description. A shape petting a sideways b? The OP doesn’t know ASL, and the signing is shown from a non-ideal angle. He got it wrong. If you have Netflix streaming, the scene is close to the end of _Emergency!_ s5e8. Check it out for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/18 "2016-04-10T17:20:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > The OP doesn’t know ASL, and the signing is shown from a non-ideal angle. He got it wrong. If you have Netflix streaming, the scene is close to the end of _Emergency!_ s5e8. Check it out for yourself. Well, it _wasn’t_ that easy to tell. The girl was facing Carol McEvoy, not the camera. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asl-what-a-particular-sign-means/751624/19 "2016-04-10T23:04:12Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > Well, it _wasn’t_ that easy to tell. The girl was facing Carol McEvoy, not the camera. No one is blaming you.