GR8: "Great!" (ASL spelling and number pun version of leetspeak "gr8" -- joke
sign)
GR8 ("Great! -- joke sign)
April 5, 2024:
Question: How long as the Deaf Community been using this sign?
Answer:
Any simple answer might inaccurately suggest there is some sort of existing
broad acceptance and usage of this emergent protologism.
For a definition and discussion of what a protologism is, see: https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/protologism.htm
The GR8 protologism (or perhaps "neologism") was brought to my attention in
March of 2024 by one of my interns who saw it during their day job as an
interpreter when one of their Deaf clients signed it to them at the completion
of an assignment to wish them a "GR8 DAY!"
It is possible that the GR8 (pun / joke) sign may have been in use for a
considerable length of time but if so such use hasn't been widespread nor
common. I've not seen this sign prior to 2024 nor have I seen it documented
anywhere prior March of 2024,
neither had my wife (who is also Deaf and moderates several online Deaf / ASL -
related groups), nor my intern (who is a certified, working interpreter with
over a year of Video-Relay interpreting experience). Which isn't to say that
"someone" hasn't already documented it. I'm not making any claims to being the
first to document something I'm simply a content creator that noticed a clever
little (pun / joke) sign that is delightful on its own regardless of how long it
has been used or how far it has spread -- and figured I'd document it and share
it with my audience so they can enjoy it / appreciate it as well.
(Notice how I keep referring to GR8 as a "pun / joke" sign? I do that to help
out those who are humor impaired to keep in mind that this sign is -- a pun /
joke sign.)
Who knows? Maybe at some point in the future it will become just "a sign."
Language evolves.
Notes:
See: protologism
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