TerpTopics: HUMOR: Funny stuff (quips, quotes, jokes, sarcasm, pithy remarks) related to second-language learners, ASL and sign language students and practitioners [interpreters], and so on.

We hope you enjoy the humorous remarks, anecdotes, jokes, witty (occasionally pithy) retorts, tales, quips, giggles, gaffs, tee-hees, and ha-has collected from wherever we could find them and assembled here for the pleasure of TerpTopics visitors, their friends, colleagues, and any enemies about whom they might care enough to share a link back to this page. to enough to share. Although you may not have requested it, please relax in the knowledge that you have permission to eye-rolls, accompanied by whatever is your version of "Oh, my goodness ... " <g> And, for the hyper-organized among us: Yes, they're numbered. Why wouldn't they be numbered?

1. This retrieved 2009 July 16 from the Facebook group "You know you're an ASL interpreter
when/if ... ":

You know you're an ASL Interpreter when/if...

...You find yourself talking in ASL gloss

...You have a sidekick/blackberry/trio/pager with you 24/7

...You know who Peter Cook, Byron Yoder, Betty Colonomos, and Keith Wann are

...You know what "cha" and "pah" mean

...Your wardrobe consists of solid, plain colors... no patterns, no frills

...You find yourself distracted by and annoyed with "visual noise"

...You can have an entire conversation without saying a word or using a sign... it's all on your face

...You find that none of your jokes make sense to anyone else but fellow interpreters or d/Deaf people

...You know the cultural difference between deaf and Deaf.

...all the games you play are vocabulary builders or word games (ie: Boggle, Scrabble, Crosswords, Upwords, Dictionary Dabble, etc.)

...You find yourself unexplainably attracted to hands

...there are no large floral centerpieces on your kitchen/coffee table(s)

...You wake yourself up while signing in your sleep

...Your spelling is impeccable

...Your closed captioning is always on

...You know the difference between a nod of assent or comprehension and "the nod"

...You've ever been mistaken for a Deaf person by a Deaf person

...You have a VRS # in your phone

...You accidently/automatically say "go ahead" in regular phone conversations

...You've ever had a conversation with someone and were signing unconsciously (until they brought it to your attention)

...You own a pair of white gloves

...Speaking about yourself third person is in no way weird, creepy, or unusual to you anymore

...You're used to being stared at

...You've ever lost your name and identity to become, quite simply, "the interpreter"

...You can't sit and listen to a lecture/sermon/speech anymore without continually asking yourself, "How would I interpret that?"

...You have ever flung your glasses off your face while signing, and wait for a natural pause before picking them up

...You have spent all day talking/singing about something you don't understand or know anything about... like calculus, or electrical wiring, or __(fill in the blank)__

...You've ever been referred to as "the person in the corner of the TV screen"

...You hear a joke based on a play on words and immediately think "hearing joke!"

3. The effervescing, the amazing, the ... well, you decide: Keith Wann (retrieved 20090720 from YouTube):

4. "My Deaf Lady" (Retrieved 20090720 from YouTube.) Rosa Lee's adaptation of My Fair Lady ... with an ASL twist:

5. "The VRS World We Never See" by Matt Daigle (Retrieved 20090729 from That Deaf Cartoonist.) ... love the bunny slippers:

6. "Wait! That's the interpreter!" by David H. Pierce (Retrieved 20090802 from DeafDigest):

8. "I need an interpreter ... " by unidentified cartoonist (Retrieved 20090816):

9. Interpretation Lag-Time ... by Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf (Retrieved 20090818):

10. "Extreme Interpreting" ... by Matt Daigle (Retrieved 20090919 from MDaigleTooms.).

This page was edited: 09/19/2009
This page has been visited Hit Counter times since: July 17, 2009.
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