The wrong signals

I was letting my mind wander recently and it occurred to me how easily people misunderstand each other. For example, many words in the English language have more than one meaning, or simply mishearing what has been said can cause confusion. Mispronouncing a word or phrase in a foreign language is easily done because it isn't the speakers mother tongue. This can create situations where two people have real difficulty understanding one another.

Now imagine being unable to hear anything at all. Deaf people use sign language to communicate but how often do they misread what everyone else is saying as we gesticulate with our hands. Some signs speak for themselves, such as hello and book.

 

But what happens when someone makes a sign without realising what they're doing, such as wiping something from the side of their mouth?

Or rubbing their nose?

This got me thinking, how often do we make signs that can be read in an entirely different way by deaf people? And what are we unintentionally saying? Personally, I have fun imagining that hundreds of metal fans, all making the horned fist, are mistakenly signing the word for reindeer or something equally inappropriate to the situation.

Well, it makes me laugh. Ho ho ho.