As for the Don’t Sign with Your Hands Full joke, the punchline is the ASL sign MARRY but it
ends with the lamentation of “See, oralism is better!” In order to fully understand what is actually behind
the lamentation and to appreciate the joke to the fullest, hearing students who learn ASL as a
foreign/second language will need to be aware of the historical significance of oralism vs. manualism in
deaf education and even about audism in modern society. In the words of Bienvenu (1989), “culturally
Deaf people detest oralism; therefore, the irony in the giant’s conclusion that oralism would have saved
his beloved girl is funny” (p. 2). This joke is more complicated when compared to versions that do not
end with the lamentation. Students who know even just basic ASL would laugh at the punchline of the
ASL sign MARRY. They will appreciate the play on language, entirely in the signed language.
In closing, humor is an essential part of deaf people’s lives. It reflects the unique linguistic and
cultural patterns of behavior and the shared identity within the deaf community. The way both jokes,
Don’t Sign with Your Hands Full and Please But, are told in ASL are culturally and linguistically rich, in
addition to being timeless.
References
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Research, and Creativity at the University of Southern Mississippi. (https://aquila.usm.edu/honors_theses/98/)
Bienvenu, MJ. (1989). Reflections of American deaf culture in deaf humor. TBC News, 17, 1-3.
Bruce, T. (2006). A handmade treasury of deaf folktales [DVD]. Retrieved from www.trixbruce.com
Carmel, S. (1981). American folklore
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The Power of ASL
5
Summer 2018 – Issue 10