# what is the ASL sign for "boob?"



## RaeAnne (Mar 7, 2007)

I want to do baby signs using ASL. Does anyone know the sign for "boob?"







I can't find it online.

RaeAnne


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## nevaehsmommy (Aug 6, 2007)

We use the sign for milk. It is like you are milking a cow. Daughter caught on very quick to what it meant







:


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## ~ZooBabies~ (Jan 20, 2008)

We just started (sort of late, but still!) and I'm pretty sure you use the sign for "Milk".

My DS is catching on already! We started w/ "milk" sign & "all done" sign.

HTH! Good luck!


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## KristyDi (Jun 5, 2007)

Here is an ASL site. They do have breast, but I can't link right to it. Just go to B and it's in alphabetical order.

I plan to use the sign for milk like pp.


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## RaeAnne (Mar 7, 2007)

Nope. Boob.

I'll keep looking, nobody seems to have it. Maybe it's not an ASL word?


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## thixle (Sep 26, 2007)

There is one for "nursing baby"


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## mama_daba (Dec 7, 2004)

there is one for breast at the url pp posted


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## cak1207 (Dec 2, 2007)

There is a sign for breast. You take your whole hand and kinda press on one breast with fingertips and cross to the other. From left to right. There is a video for it if I can get the link to work.

http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

If you're doing it for breastfeeding. You could also do the sign for milk which is squeezing your fist. HTH!


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## Collinsky (Jul 7, 2004)

One sign for BREASTFEED/ING is to take your hand and kind of act like you're pulling milk out of your breast. I am having trouble describing it...but it's not a universal sign so you can modify it. (I am pretty sure that if you were speaking with a Deaf person, they would be able to understand you even if they didn't know that sign, by the sign in its context.







)

The trouble with looking for a specific ASL sign for a specific spoken English word is that ASL is a conceptual language... so when you have synonyms in English, it doesn't mean there are two signs in ASL. You're signing a concept, not an actual "word"... if that makes sense. If you specifically must sign "boob" I think fingerspelling is your best bet. Or just go with the sign for breast that's been posted.

HTH

ETA What we did was sign MILK while saying "Ninny" (our word for breasts/nursing). You can certainly sign BREAST while _saying_ "Boob." Because the sign for BREAST and BOOB and TITTY etc is the same sign, kwim?


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## RaeAnne (Mar 7, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Collinsky* 
The trouble with looking for a specific ASL sign for a specific spoken English word is that ASL is a conceptual language... so when you have synonyms in English, it doesn't mean there are two signs in ASL. You're signing a concept, not an actual "word"... if that makes sense. If you specifically must sign "boob" I think fingerspelling is your best bet. Or just go with the sign for breast that's been posted.

I've thought about that (not as eloquently, but that basic concept, that there might not even be a slang word for "breast"). Okay, now I'm thinking about that, and the thing is, aren't all words concepts? They mean nothing apart from the context, the intent of the speaker. I don't know, I think maybe I disagree, other that ASL might not have the same slang as English. Maybe that's what you're saying.

I need to find out if deaf people have a slang word for "breast."


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## Collinsky (Jul 7, 2004)

Yes, all words are concepts, but we have different spoken words _for the same concept_. ASL goes straight to the concept. So there is one sign that covers all the various words, traditional and slang, for a man's genetalia, for a woman's genetalia, etc. even though in spoken English we have a slew of terms that can refer to those parts of the body. Only one sign for JUMP even though spoken you might say "leap" or "hop" or "bound". HOP might be signed with a smaller motion, or a different facial expression, than LEAP, but it's still the same sign: JUMP.

The need for this kind of slang is minimal I think. I'm not an expert so I will see what I can find, but ASL slang tends to be phrases, certain combinations of signs to mean something. Basically, users of ASL have their own slang, they don't just translate spoken English slang.

I do wonder though, and this is possible, the younger Deaf people (like teens) might have a slang sign for BREAST that they do so that the older people (their parents) don't understand that they are talking about breasts? That seems likely...









There is a Learning ASL tribe on MDC, you might want to ask there as there are some with a much higher level of vocab than me, as well as greater understanding of Deaf language/culture. They would know way better than me!!


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## J-Max (Sep 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Collinsky* 
Yes, all words are concepts, but we have different spoken words _for the same concept_. ASL goes straight to the concept. So there is one sign that covers all the various words, traditional and slang, for a man's genetalia, for a woman's genetalia, etc. even though in spoken English we have a slew of terms that can refer to those parts of the body. Only one sign for JUMP even though spoken you might say "leap" or "hop" or "bound". HOP might be signed with a smaller motion, or a different facial expression, than LEAP, but it's still the same sign: JUMP.

The need for this kind of slang is minimal I think. I'm not an expert so I will see what I can find, but ASL slang tends to be phrases, certain combinations of signs to mean something. Basically, users of ASL have their own slang, they don't just translate spoken English slang.

I do wonder though, and this is possible, the younger Deaf people (like teens) might have a slang sign for BREAST that they do so that the older people (their parents) don't understand that they are talking about breasts? That seems likely...









There is a Learning ASL tribe on MDC, you might want to ask there as there are some with a much higher level of vocab than me, as well as greater understanding of Deaf language/culture. They would know way better than me!!

Yea, to all that. I have a sister that is HI and took ASL/SEE as my foreign lang in HS. We also have had (and will again soon) Milk cows, so I leave the traditional "milk" sign for that. For nursing use a made up sign - an "n" patted on my breast, while saying "nursey". They pick up on this really fast.


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## PatioGardener (Aug 11, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Collinsky* 
Yes, all words are concepts, but we have different spoken words _for the same concept_. ASL goes straight to the concept. So there is one sign that covers all the various words, traditional and slang, for a man's genetalia, for a woman's genetalia, etc. even though in spoken English we have a slew of terms that can refer to those parts of the body. Only one sign for JUMP even though spoken you might say "leap" or "hop" or "bound". HOP might be signed with a smaller motion, or a different facial expression, than LEAP, but it's still the same sign: JUMP.

This is really interesting - thanks for sharing!


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## Kat_shoshin (Feb 16, 2007)

If you look up nursing - the sign is in that online directory. nursing - baby.

It's cool - I like it.

We use the sign for milk, at the side of my face. Like stroking my face with my knuckles. It's "milk" signed in the spot for mother. Mother's milk. And he likes to rub my face when nursing so appropriate, but not SO obvious to onlookers.

Also, it looks like Helen Keller's sign for mother from "The Miracle Worker".


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

we use milk too.... i hope you can find one that works for you guys. i use this site when im trying to find the sign for a word

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm


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