# Hearing characters who know sign langauge? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916 "2016-02-02T03:28:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/1 "2016-02-02T03:28:32Z")
Occasionally on TV the need arises to communicate with someone who is hearing impaired. Rather than brining in an interpreter, one of the series’ regularly characters is suddenly revealed to be fluent in American Sign Language. Ted demonstrated it a couple of times in How I Met Your Mother. Levitt in Barney Miller explained his fluency by saying a family member was deaf. Howard in Big Bang Theory knows ASL, I suppose, for the same reason he claims to know seven other languages. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/2 "2016-02-02T03:54:29Z")
Leroy J. Gibbs on _NCIS_. Abby Sciuto, the lab wiz, knows ASL because her parents were deaf. But every now and then she and Gibbs communicate in sign language. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/3 "2016-02-02T04:04:08Z")
I’ve always wondered how accurate the ASL is. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/4 "2016-02-02T04:17:12Z")
Gil Grissom in _ **CSI** _, because (IIRC) his mother was deaf (and he was in danger of losing his own hearing, since it was a hereditary thing). (Howard’s Russian, BTW, leaves something to be desired. He can’t pronounce the word for “girl” correctly.) ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/5 "2016-02-02T04:20:41Z")
Grissom signs a little in CSI because his mom was Deaf. I think he’s supposed to be HoH and at least a little worried about losing the rest of his hearing. And then there’s Switched at Birth over on ABC Family (or whatever it’s called now) with a bunch of Deaf characters and plenty of hearing characters that know ASL/learn. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/6 "2016-02-02T04:23:56Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Ted demonstrated it a couple of times in How I Met Your Mother. > Levitt in Barney Miller explained his fluency by saying a family member was deaf. > Howard in Big Bang Theory knows ASL, I suppose, for the same reason he claims to know seven other languages. > > Any others? Buck Rogers knew sign language, because the whole _point_ of that show was how our hero would use his 20th-century skills to save the day amidst futuristic technology. Sure, the guard escorting him to a prison cell has a raygun – but does he know _judo?_ Gadzooks! What sorcery is this? Verily, 'tis some lost art of the ancients! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/7 "2016-02-02T04:26:52Z")
> [@Achren](#): > > I’ve always wondered how accurate the ASL is. Like any other form of translation or interpretation, the important thing is to convey the thought, rather than each individual word. In that respect, it’s very good. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/8 "2016-02-02T06:02:35Z")
Last week’s \*Supernatural \*had Sam try few phrases in ASL with a deaf woman, mainly out of politeness - he had taken a course in college, but was hardly fluent. It was a nice departure from the standard TV trope of hearing characters using ASL perfectly out of the blue. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/9 "2016-02-02T06:09:34Z")
Barney Collier was shown learning sign language in a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE episode. (Which was no surprise, because Barney was pretty much good at everything.) ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/10 "2016-02-02T06:45:58Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Like any other form of translation or interpretation, the important thing is to convey the thought, rather than each individual word. In that respect, it’s very good. Right, but it’s like most times a show uses a foreign language - not being fluent, I wonder how much they’ve gotten right or wrong that someone who _is_ fluent would notice. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/11 "2016-02-02T10:56:59Z")
In season 1 of _Fargo_ Mr. Numbers uses sign language with Mr. Wrench, who is deaf (and played by a deaf actor.) > **[In 'Fargo,' A Deaf Actor Gets His Chance To Be Wicked](https://www.npr.org/2014/06/01/317945736/in-fargo-a-deaf-actor-gets-his-chance-to-be-wicked)** > > An actor since childhood, Russell Harvard always wanted to play the bad guy. In the TV show Fargo, he plays a menacing hit man whose partner interprets for him — sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/12 "2016-02-02T11:05:16Z")
Kramer on Seinfeld knows some sign language (in the episode with Marlee Matlin). ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/13 "2016-02-02T12:23:20Z")
“Reasonable Doubts” a 1991-93 drama where in the opening scene the deaf DA (Marlee Matlin) signs frustration over a detective’s testimony. He (Mark Harmon) signs back that he is not a thick blockhead (his parents were deaf or something similar) which surprises her and was the basis for the show. ASL can change over time. I used to work with several deaf person and they laughingly commented on how one hearing co worker used “old fashioned” signs he learned from his deaf parents. He signed and understood them very well. I learned a number of signs but could never follow their conversations…too fast for me. Also expressive facial gestures are important for deaf people. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/14 "2016-02-02T12:47:30Z")
In an episode of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_, Data is able to communicate with the mute guest-alien-of-the-week via sign language. Of course, given Data’s superhuman intellect, this isn’t particularly surprising. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/15 "2016-02-02T14:06:52Z")
Yeah, Data explicitly learned sign language in that episode, for that purpose–which, being Data, he was able to do very quickly. The Doctor (of _Doctor Who_) _thinks_ he knows sign language, but it turns out he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/16 "2016-02-02T14:23:07Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Also expressive facial gestures are important for deaf people. I once worked with an ASL interpreter. She loved it because (in her own words) she was “a ham.” ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/17 "2016-02-02T14:32:01Z")
Sorry to expand this to literature to give a shout out to my all time favorite book - Harry Crews’ The Gypsy’s Curse. Hester knew ASL and Morse code. What a sweetheart! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/18 "2016-02-02T14:42:14Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Kramer on Seinfeld knows some sign language (in the episode with Marlee Matlin). Whenever Marlee Matlin in on a show, the odds are good _someone_ will know sign language. ---
**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:** [February 2, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/19 "2016-02-02T14:52:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Also expressive facial gestures are important for deaf people. I was once at a family wedding where one of the some-sort-of-cousins in attendance was deaf. Out of consideration for them, the hosts put a notepad and pencil at every table at the reception. The cousin’s wife, meanwhile, was also deaf, and additionally vision-impaired: She could see well enough to understand signing, but not to read. So he’d read what was written, and translate it for her. Well, during conversation, they asked me what I did. I’m never sure how specific to be, so I answered “Physics. Relativity. What Einstein did.” And the sign he gave for Einstein, you could recognize from across the room, because the gesture he made with his hand against his head looked _exactly_ like Einstein’s hair. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916/20 "2016-02-02T15:00:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, during conversation, they asked me what I did. I’m never sure how specific to be, so I answered “Physics. Relativity. What Einstein did.” And the sign he gave for Einstein, you could recognize from across the room, because the gesture he made with his hand against his head looked _exactly_ like Einstein’s hair. On _ **Who Wants to be a Millionaire** _ last week, one of the questions was (to the best of my recollection) “In ASL, this person is signed by raising your right arm and putting your fingers on your upper lip.” Answer: Adolf Hitler. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearing-characters-who-know-sign-langauge/744916.md?page=2)