Signing Savvy for Libraries

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 weather.

1. Weather vs. Meeting

WEATHER and MEETING both use two hands that touch in front of the chest, however, the handshapes and motions of the hands are different.

• WEATHER: This version of WEATHER uses both hands in the W handshape, palms facing each other with thumbs and pinkies of both hands all touching each other. The hands make an alternating back and forth twisting movement twice, while keeping thumbs and pinkies touching. Think of the first letter in WEATHER to remember the sign.
• MEETING: Begin with hands apart, palms facing each other and fingers extended in the 5 handshape. Thumbs and fingers fold inward with the fingertips meeting twice in front of the torso. Think of ten people getting together.

2. Cold vs. Winter

COLD and WINTER both use two hands with palms facing each other in front of the body, shoulder width apart, in the S handshape. Pay attention to the slight difference in movement to recognize each sign.

• COLD: Keep the arms in one spot and shake the fists in and out at the same time quickly. Think of shivering when it's cold.
• WINTER: Instead of shaking, WINTER has both hands move in small inward circles at the same time. Think of a continuous circle of cold weather during WINTER.

3. Cool vs. Friendly

COOL and FRIENDLY use both hands just above the chest with palms facing the body. The handshapes and movement are different.

• COOL (as in "weather or low temperature"): The hands are in the open B handshape with palms facing the body. Hands stay in place while the fingers make a fluttering motion toward the face. Think of fanning yourself while trying to cool down.
• FRIENDLY: Both hands are in the 5 handshape just above the chest, palms inward, and both hands move up and outside of the face while fingers make a fluttering motion. Think of someone with a big smile radiating outward.

4. Rain vs. Snow

RAIN and SNOW both start with the hands up near the face, but the movement of the hands is different. As you produce each sign think of raindrops falling from the sky when signing RAIN and snow delicately falling to the ground when signing SNOW.

• RAIN: Both hands in the bent 5 handshape, with palms facing down, are held up near the top of your head and make a downward movement with a bend at the wrists. Think of raindrops falling from the sky.
• SNOW: Both hands in the 5 handshape, with palms facing down, are held up near the top of your head and slowly wiggle their fingers as they move down. Think of the delicate way snow falls to the ground.

5. Thunder vs. Noisy

THUNDER and NOISY both use the dominant index finger to point toward the dominant ear, followed by both hands in motion above the shoulders. The motion and handshapes are different for each sign.

• THUNDER: After pointing to the dominant ear, THUNDER changes to two hands in the S handshape moving back and forth. Think of the loud rumbling noise thunder makes.
• NOISY: This sign also begins with pointing to the dominant ear with the 1 handshape, and then uses both hands in the 5 handshape, palms down, in a shaking motion. Think of hearing something so loud it vibrates.

6. Percent vs. Chicago vs. Indianapolis vs. Rochester vs. Philadelphia vs. Kalamazoo vs. Flint vs. Detroit vs. Texas

Pay close attention to the different handshapes for the signs PERCENT, CHICAGO, INDIANAPOLIS, ROCHESTER, PHILADELPHIA, KALAMAZOO, FLINT, DETROIT, and TEXAS. The hand motion is the same across all signs, with the dominant hand moving across the body to the dominant side, and downward ending with the palm facing down. This makes the shape of the number 7 (or the percent symbol) in the air which is common for signing many cities, with changing the first initial. The differing handshapes is the key to recognizing and signing the correct item.

• PERCENT: O handshape, as if you are drawing the PERCENT symbol.
• CHICAGO: C handshape. Think of C for Chicago.
• INDIANAPOLIS: I handshape. Think of I for Indy.
• ROCHESTER: R handshape. Think of R for Rochester.
• PHILADELPHIA: P handshape. Think of P for Philly.
• KALAMAZOO: K handshape. Think of K for Kalamazoo.
• FLINT: F handshape. Think of F for Flint.
• DETROIT: D handshape. Think of D for Detroit.
• TEXAS: X handshape. X is the middle letter of the state of Texas.

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.