Scrolling through Facebook this morning, I happened to see a story detailing a general outcry against an employee of some sort of theme park in Florida (I think) who had made the "Ok" sign over the shoulder of a little girl of mixed race.
Initially, I could not understand the crime. What had caused the outcry? Was it something about the guy, the girl, or the hand gesture?
Well, I read on, and found the problem explained in a following paragraph. The "Ok" sign, I was surprised to learn, no longer means … uh … 'Ok'. Apparently it is now a sign indicating an allegiance upon the 'signer's' part to the ideology of white supremacy; or, to put it more succinctly, the person performing the gesture is a freaking racist, and proud of it. And this is definitely not Ok.
It occurs to me now that if I were ever to return to America, I would need to do some catching up, preferably beforehand. As a matter of fact, if anyone from Indonesia were to visit or immigrate to America, he or she had better take some preparatory measures as well, because I can tell you that just recently I flashed this hand signal to a young man who had helped me with something and that both he and I mutually and immediately understood the sign to mean "Ok" or "Good job, thank you." We both understood it in the same way that we would both understand the 'thumbs up' gesture. Or has that, too, changed in America? Hmmm.
See what I mean? I shudder to think what might happen to me or to my Indonesian friend were we to stroll about confidently flashing this sign.
Which gestures are now 'ok', and which not? Which words are ok? Which have changed meaning? I know that at some point the word "sick" came to mean, in popular lingo, not "ill", but "cool". I wonder what it means now. In times long past, the word "gay" meant "happy", and now … well, you know. The hand sign where you use the index and third finger to make a V began as a sign meaning 'victory' (as in World War II). It's meaning in the 60's changed to 'peace'. And now?
I dunno, maybe we'd all be better off just expressing ourselves in plain English. Dig?
Initially, I could not understand the crime. What had caused the outcry? Was it something about the guy, the girl, or the hand gesture?
Well, I read on, and found the problem explained in a following paragraph. The "Ok" sign, I was surprised to learn, no longer means … uh … 'Ok'. Apparently it is now a sign indicating an allegiance upon the 'signer's' part to the ideology of white supremacy; or, to put it more succinctly, the person performing the gesture is a freaking racist, and proud of it. And this is definitely not Ok.
It occurs to me now that if I were ever to return to America, I would need to do some catching up, preferably beforehand. As a matter of fact, if anyone from Indonesia were to visit or immigrate to America, he or she had better take some preparatory measures as well, because I can tell you that just recently I flashed this hand signal to a young man who had helped me with something and that both he and I mutually and immediately understood the sign to mean "Ok" or "Good job, thank you." We both understood it in the same way that we would both understand the 'thumbs up' gesture. Or has that, too, changed in America? Hmmm.
See what I mean? I shudder to think what might happen to me or to my Indonesian friend were we to stroll about confidently flashing this sign.
Which gestures are now 'ok', and which not? Which words are ok? Which have changed meaning? I know that at some point the word "sick" came to mean, in popular lingo, not "ill", but "cool". I wonder what it means now. In times long past, the word "gay" meant "happy", and now … well, you know. The hand sign where you use the index and third finger to make a V began as a sign meaning 'victory' (as in World War II). It's meaning in the 60's changed to 'peace'. And now?
I dunno, maybe we'd all be better off just expressing ourselves in plain English. Dig?
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