Signing Savvy, Your Sign Language Resource

This article is part of our “Signs That Are Close... But Not the Same” series, which highlights signs that look similar, but have different meanings.

The ASL signs shown below look similar, but are not the same. There are many ASL signs that when produced look similar, but in fact have a completely different meaning. Below you will find examples of such signs. Watch closely to see if you can see the differences. In addition, watch my eyebrows, look to see when I tilt my head or lean my body in a certain way, even what my mouth is doing. These nuances are called inflections and trust me, inflections matter.

These examples are all signs related to sports.

1. Soccer vs. Kick

SOCCER and KICK use the same handshapes and motions. Both hands are in the open B handshape with the non-dominant palm facing downward. The dominant hand is sideways, palm facing inward, and swings up to hit the non-dominant hand. The difference is in how many times the motion is made.

• SOCCER: The dominant hand swings up to hit the non-dominant hand two times.
• KICK: The dominant hand swings up to hit the non-dominant hand one time.

2. Football vs. Wrestling

FOOTBALL and WRESTLING use both hands in the 5 handshape with interlocking fingers. However, the motion of the hands is different.

• FOOTBALL: The hands begin slightly apart, and come together two times with palms down and fingers intertwined. Think of two teams of players facing each other.
• WRESTLING: Both hands begin interlocked with palms together, and the locked hands move forward and backward several times. Think of people trying to throw each other to the ground.

3. Volleyball vs. Wonderful vs. Sunday

The signs for VOLLEYBALL, WONDERFUL and SUNDAY look very similar, all starting by using two hands near the head. The handshape for VOLLEYBALL is slightly different, using the open B handshape, but keeping fingers closer together than the 5 handshape used for both WONDERFUL and SUNDAY with fingers slightly splayed.

• VOLLEYBALL: Both hands have palms face up over the forehead, and make an upward hitting movement two times. Think of hitting the volleyball over the net.
• WONDERFUL: Palms face forward on both sides of your head, fingers apart and making small forward movements two times. Think of the heavens.
• SUNDAY: The hands begin with palms forward on both sides of the upper half of the face. Hands bounce once and then move down to the lower half of the face and bounce once again. Think of hallelujah and raising the roof in praise.

4. Skiing vs. Ice Skating vs. Roller Skating vs. Rollerblading

These skiing and skating sports all use similar hand movements. SKIING, ICE SKATING, ROLLER SKATING and ROLLERBLADING use two hands, but have different handshapes or positions.

• SKIING: Both hands are in the X handshape, palms face upward, with the hands beginning up at the dominant shoulder and moving forward in a downward sloping motion. Think of SKIING down the slope of a hill.
• ICE SKATING: Both hands are in the X handshape with palms up, but the hands stay at the lower part of the torso and alternate back and forth in gliding movements like ICE SKATING.
• ROLLER SKATING: The movements and position are very similar to ICE SKATING, however both hands are in the bent V handshape with palms up and hands moving more side to side and a bit outward. Think of movements made while ROLLER SKATING.
• ROLLERBLADING: Both hands have palms facing each other in the B handshape. Hands move alternately back and forth miming the action of skating on in-line wheels.

5. Exercise vs. Weightlifting

EXERCISE and WEIGHTLIFTING both use the S handshape with hands above the shoulders, but the arm movement differs.

• EXERCISE: The upper arms remain stationary while the elbows straighten to move the hands out to the side and back toward the shoulder two times.
• WEIGHTLIFTING: This version has palms facing forward, hands starting by the ears and moving up above the head. Think of lifting barbells above your head.

6. Game vs. Challenge vs. Race

GAME, CHALLENGE and RACE all use both hands, thumbs up in the 10 handshape with knuckles touching at some point in the sign. The movement distinguishes the sign.

• GAME: Hands begin apart with palms facing the body. Hands come together to tap at the knuckles two times. Think of two rams butting heads.
• CHALLENGE (as in "a general challenge"): Hands are apart near the lower torso, palms facing the body. Hands make an upward and inward swooping motion and touch at the knuckles. Think of two people facing off.
• RACE: Knuckles begin together, palms facing each other, while hands alternately twist back and forth against each other. Think of two horses neck and neck at the finish line.

7. Play vs. Party

PLAY and PARTY have both hands moving in the Y handshape. The motion is different between the signs.

• PLAY: Hands are apart with palms facing inward. Both hands move back and forth in a shaking motion at the same time. Think of hopping around and having fun.
• PARTY: This sign also has hands apart and palms facing each other. Both hands sway back and forth in the same direction at the same time in front of the body. Think of people dancing.

8. Lose vs. Fall Down

LOSE and FALL DOWN both have the dominant hand in the V handshape making a distinct motion on top of the non-dominant hand with palm up and fingers forward in the open B handshape. The motion of the dominant hand is the difference-maker in the signs.

• LOSE: The dominant hand is in the V handshape with palm down and fingers forward raised above the lower hand. The dominant hand then drops down, landing on the palm of the non-dominant hand. Think of falling on your rear end. When signing LOSE, be sure your facial expression shows the unhappiness of losing.
• FALL DOWN: The dominant hand is in the V handshape, palm facing inward with fingers pointing down on top of the non-dominant hand below. The dominant hand tilts forward and falls with palm face up onto the hand below. Think of how your body lands when you fall.

How can I figure out the difference between signs on my own?

If you see two signs that look close, but not the same, and you’re not sure, you may use Signing Savvy features to help you figure out the difference. All of our signs have sign descriptions and memory aids that members may access. Reading the sign description and memory aids for the signs will help you figure out the small differences between them that your eyes don’t catch at first. We also recommend using the pause and slow motion feature to slow down the video, so you may take a closer look. These features are available to Signing Savvy members.