By William G. Vicars, EdD (Originally sometime in 2023)
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In a discussion regarding the sign commonly labeled as PROVE, a person suggested
the following sentence for signing practice:
"I will proof the batter before I cook the pancakes."
An other person responded that people generally don't "proof" pancake batter and
that they have never heard of proofing pancake batter (but recognized doing so
might be something that happens in other parts of the world. They
suggested that the sign for proofing yeast might be different from proof that
something is real or actual -- and indicated that they would be "Waiting to be
proven wrong."
Such an invitation is hard to resist so I'll give it a try.
It is seriously weird that English uses the term "proof" to mean "let the dough
rise." Yet, English does just that. Bakers just say "proof" and other bakers
know what it means. It works among those who know what "proof" means in regard
to baking.
Oh sure, I just looked up the etymology of "proof" -- blah, blah, blah, fun
stuff , and basically comes out to mean "test the dough to see if it will rise"
and if it does that proves your fermentation process worked. During the actual
process of proofing you basically let the dough (batter, ha) sit there and rest
a while.
I found a fun little page stating that we should do the same basic process (let
the batter rest = proof) with pancakes:
https://www.thekitchn.com/fluffier-pancake-trick-22972880
(If that link breaks or the page disappears the gist of it was that for
better pancakes you should let your pancake batter rest a while before using
it).
Anyway dragging us (or at least me) away from thoughts of pancakes with
maple syrup and butter back to ASL -- imagine a Deaf baker is hanging out in a
kitchen with a lot of Hearing bakers (who know basic sign language) and the
Hearing bakers keep tossing the word "proof" around. In real life the Deaf baker
might just end up signing "PROVE" (to mean "proof") because that is the ASL sign
that has the closest equivalent gloss to the English word "proof" that is being
used in this mixed language environement.
The Deaf baker knows what "proof" or "proofing" means. An interpreter who comes
in and sees the Deaf person sign to one of the other cooks: YOU NEED TO PROVE
IX-(the) PANCAKE (fs)-BATTER -- might voice "You need to prove the batter."
The Hearing bakers would probably still understand what the Deaf baker meant.
An interpreter might choose to voice "You need to proof the batter" -- but only
if the interpreter actually understands baker-speak (or the lingo of bakers).
That is no different from an interpreter showing up at a church and seeing
someone sign "KISS-RING" and then voicing "bishop."
KISS-RING meaning bishop is no more outlandish than PROVE meaning let your
pancake batter sit there and rest a bit.
Both signs "KISS-RING" and "PROVE" will look weird to an outsider who doesn't
know "baker-speak" (or baker-related-signing) and/or hasn't been inducted into
religious signing.
So, while non-bakers might insist that the right way to sign "proof" is to sign:
"ABANDON-("leave it there") WAIT 10-MIN" (or some similar phrase) -- that is
*not* the sign for PROOF -- that is an expansion. Real Deaf bakers aren't going
to expand every time they need to sign a common baker-speak concept -- they are
typically going to just do the sign with the closest gloss and move on.
Related to this is the question a person asked about "How do you sign 'island'
as in a freestanding kitchen counter?" Lots of "non-Deafies" responded with all
sorts of expansions and classifiers, blah, blah, blah -- but the funny thing is
many if not most Deaf just sign "ISLAND."
Person 1: MY KEYS, WHERE?
Person 2: ISLAND
Boom! All done. Real life.
So anyway, have I proofed ... er ... I mean proved you wrong? I dunno. I just
know that if a Deaf baker wants to sign PROVE to mean "proof" that is their
prerogative.*
(*The word "prerogative" according to Oxford, means: a right or privilege
exclusive to a particular individual or class.)
Notes:
Also see: PROOF
Fun fact: You need to proof the batter if you are making sourdough
pancakes. (Hat tip to: Adam M.)
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