[TravisHusky]

Didn't realize this was a thing, cool that it worked.

As a loosely related note, there has been problems in the past where people come up with meanings for hand gestures without knowing the signed language of the region they are in, which leads to people misunderstanding something a person is signing as something completely different. Although probably not a problem in this case, just something to consider if you ever are so inclined to make a manual language.

If anyone was curious in ASL this is basically "B -> M", not that that was on purpose, just a different way this could be interpreted.

[wolverine876]

From the FAQ:

> Does the Signal for Help stand for something in a sign language?

> The Signal For Help is not meant to refer to any words, letters, or ideas in American Sign Language (ASL) or other sign languages. It is designed as a single hand motion someone can make during a video call to silently communicate they need support. Deaf community members were consulted on the Signal for Help prior to the launch of the campaign to check in about using this hand gesture.

https://canadianwomen.org/signal-for-help/

[dr_zoidberg]

I sometimes do a gesture similar to this one as a habit for cracking my (thumb) knuckles single-handed. Not as an intentional sign first tucking the thumb in the palm, and then traping it in, but rather as a single motion. I wonder if it could be mistaken for this gesture.

[corobo]

No. Rapidly moving your fingers to crack your knuckles is not the referenced hand gesture

[dr_zoidberg]

I don't do it rapdily, and it's a single-handed motion, so not the usual "cracking your knuckles" movement/gesture. I do wonder because it could look similar, though I don't specifically direct it so that it'll be palm-to-viewer, as the guides for this gesture tell you to do.

[dhosek]

Letter signing is not typical in ASL and in any event BM is not a common letter sequence in English. I would also think that if I made eye contact with someone who signed BM to me, I would have to assume it was this signal or else they were being awfully rude https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/BM#English

[pseudosavant]

> Letter signing is not typical in ASL

Really? I'm not deaf, but I did take 3 semesters of ASL, and knew a lot of deaf people. In my experience, fingerspelling is incredibly common.

It isn't that people spell everything, but is very common to spell a very specific word, especially for something technical, that one of your following signs will represent. You might spell "Macbook M1", and then use the sign for computer in the rest of the conversation.

I've also found that many people that weren't born deaf, but went deaf later, or that had hearing parents that didn't really help them, often don't know ASL well. It was common for someone to not recognize a sign and the other person would spell out what it was.

A funny oddity about spelling and the deaf. You might (at least I did) think that since they spell things out far more often than we do in spoken English that they'd know how to spell well. That is generally not the case unless the person was raised by hearing people.

I knew a couple where the husband was CODA (child of a deaf adult, both parents) but could hear/speak, and the wife was deaf but was raised by hearing parents. She actually could spell well, but he couldn't, and that was very atypical.

[kirktrue]

Yes, just like with hearing individuals, not everyone can spell well.

Often times, just like when reading, one may not notice every single letter in a given word, but with the sequence of letters, autocorrect, and context, the meaning is usually clear.

[loonster]

Teh huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

It never occurred to me that this could apply to ASL.

edit: https://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/cmabridge/

[xattt]

Even that has its own logical sign(1) with a variation to indicate diarrhea(2).

(1)https://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/poop/ (2)https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=5860

[kirktrue]

Yes, as mentioned elsewhere, finger-spelling is common when introducing a new person/entity/concept into the conversation.

Regarding the person's expressions, it's common in ASL to employ very dramatic facial expressions to assist and augment the signs themselves to help the "listener" arrive at the correct understanding and feeling.

[thaumasiotes]

> and in any event BM is not a common letter sequence in English

What? It's a common euphemism for "bowel movement"; one of the most likely things to be spoken as a letter sequence rather than a word.

[dhosek]

And if someone is finger-spelling BM at you repeatedly, as I said, they're either in distress or being awfully rude.

[ohyeshedid]

> ...in any event BM is not a common letter sequence in English.

Mainly names, no?

[thaumasiotes]

This would only be possible with a syllable break as in something like fub/moore. Even then, I can't think of a name, or a word, or a common collocation, that features it. Syllables ending in /b/ aren't so common, though they're possible.

[dhosek]

After a bit of thought, I did think of submerge, submarine, and any other subm- words

[mkl]

Also "entombment", "webmaster", and variations of them. But not many; /usr/share/dict/words on my system lists only 45, many of which are minor variations of each other.

[thaumasiotes]

> Also "entombment", "webmaster", and variations of them.

"Entombment" is spelled with -bm-, but the b is not pronounced. (As is also true of the root word "tomb".)

[ohyeshedid]

Dobman/Daudman were my original thoughts, because I've known two families.

[falcolas]

Not in the US, at least.

[xupybd]

My worry would be that as the signal becomes well known abusers will learn it to. Then using the signal will put people at risk.

[wolverine876]

From the FAQ:

What if an abuser learns about the signal?

As the signal is shared and becomes known by the public, there is a risk that an abuser might learn about it. People in abusive situations are also often closely monitored by the person harming them, and they may not always feel safe enough to use the signal.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone facing abuse. Everyone faces their own unique circumstance. The Signal for Help is one tool some people may be able to use, some of the time, to indicate they need help without leaving a digital trace.

It is important that people reach out for support if and when they feel ready, and they should do it in the ways that feel safest for them. People supporting them should be ready to help without judgement, and they should follow the lead of the person who needs help.

https://canadianwomen.org/signal-for-help/

[notacoward]

That is a possibility, but being able to communicate without making a sound might still be useful.

[tudorw]

can the 'tiktok scenius' react in real time and just instantly spread a new signal for the next person, don't underestimate how powerful that network is, has the highest quality interaction I have witnessed. more jokes than HN too

[BurningFrog]

This why you do it when the abuser isn't looking.

In this case, he was driving and presumably looking ahead 99% of the time.

[david_shaw]

> My worry would be that as the signal becomes well known abusers will learn it

I'm so glad that the signal worked in this case, but you're absolutely correct: the problem with clandestine signals like this is that they need to be somewhat widely known to be effective, but if they become too widely known they become ineffective and even dangerous (since the bad actor would likely know the signal and intent).

I've heard stories about prevented tragedies via "code word" drink orders at bars -- maybe that tactic could be more widely applied (bars, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, etc.)

Source (as an example): https://twitter.com/iizzzzzi/status/788387942242914305

[XorNot]

Being able to be made surreptitiously can be enough though. Nothing's foolproof, but if an abuser is trying to over-manage someone's communications or hand gestures, that itself is a give away for people to pay more attention.

[quantified]

Right, just teach people this little bit of ASL, it’s already a language worth learning.