Sign language users drop politically incorrect signs

Miming a hook nose to refer to Jewish people is also now deemed unacceptable by signers, who have replaced the old sign with one involving a hand resting against a chin and making a short movement down, in the shape of a beard.

Gwilym Morris, from the Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre at University College London, told the Guardian: We are nervous about this being seen as another example of political correctness because the changes are more about evolution rather than dictat of some body that approves language.

But Professor Benci Woll, director of the centre, said the changes in BSL were exactly like the changes to spoken English.

There are all sorts of words we used to refer to people 30 years ago that weve stopped using, she said.

The difference is that the change in BSL has been very rapid because it wasnt until deaf people were able to see each other over the internet that they were able to communicate with anyone who wasnt standing in front of them and see how foreign signers referred to themselves.

The younger deaf community doesnt use these old signs because of a clear process of political correctness.

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Sign language users drop politically incorrect signs