Idioms...

Like any other thriving and evolving language, ASL has its own share of idioms.

Idiom - noun: A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements.

In English, we use idioms all the time. I never realized how often until I started learning ASL Idioms.

Imagine for a minute English was not my primary language. It would be quite hard to understand phrases such as:

bite off more than one can chew
don't count your chickens before they're hatched
make a mountain out of a mole hill

ASL idioms are no different. Idioms were the topic of my first two classes at Berkeley City College, as well as a 3 hour workshop I attended over the weekend.

I especially like learning the idioms because they are not in any of my textbooks. Knowing not only the specific signs, but also the meaning helps when I am at a Deaf Coffee night or some other event. If someone signs “train go sorry” or “funny zero” I now know what they mean. The idiom sings make sense if I am able to understand them conceptually, and turn off the English grammar in my head…