CHIPS:
Fingerspelled "C-H-I-P-S" animation:
CHIPS: (Variation)
It is based on concept of the right hand thumb representing a knife or peeler and the left hand representing a potato. Make two quick downward and forward movements as if you were slicing a potato to make chips. The thumb scrapes along the back of the "palm-down" left fist.
See "CHIPS" - (homesign) animated
See: potato
DISCUSSION
When I originally posted the variation of "CHIPS" above it was not a widely used sign and I provided it here mostly for thought and entertainment value.
It was just a made up sign we use around the Vicars house,
otherwise known as a "home sign."
One of our
daughters, Sarah, doesn't have any joints in her fingers. So we
tend to come up with signs that don't require fingerspelling. (Sort of hard to
fingerspell words like "C-H-I-P-S" when you can't bend your fingers.
While I don't think Hearing people
(people who are not Culturally Deaf) ought to
start coming up with homesigns for whatever they don't know how to sign, it is
indeed common in Deaf households. (Note: People who are not immersed in the
culture tend to create homesigns that are likely to conflict with existing
signs and/or be grossly inappropriate.)
I'm originally just shared the variation POTATO here
with you here so you can appreciate the fact that this language came into
being as a direct result of humans adapting to their circumstances. Back
then, (when I first posted it) outside of my home you were unlikely
to see this sign. I posted, "Who knows? Maybe it will catch on?"
Well it seems many others have also "came up with this sign" and/or it has
spread very quickly. See below.
-- Bill
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In a message dated 10/26/2007
1:03:37 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, mtew@ writes:
Just thought I would let you know, I was looking at the sign you said is a
home-sign for chips, however that is how my daughter learned it down here in
Florida. Maybe it has already started to catch on?? Thanks for all of your
help!!
Yours,
Monica J. Tew
In a message dated 10/27/2007 11:00:23 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
BillVicars writes:
Monica,
Thanks for mentioning that.
I think you are right. The use of this sign has spread far and wide.
I saw it the other day being used by a graduate of the California School for
the Deaf, Fremont.
But instead of using an "S" hand (fist) for the base hand, she was using an
index finger for the base hand and using the "C" hand as the moving,
dominant hand. I'll stick with the "S" and "C" variation for now, but
it is interesting to see how quickly language can evolve.
--Bill