American Sign Language: "stubborn" Notice the "stubborn" facial expression. STUBBORN: Note: Remember, "labels" for ASL signs are not the same as English words. They are not direct equivalents. I once saw a friend sign "T-O-Y-O-T-A ENGINE STUBBORN" and what he meant by it was that "Toyota engines don't quit, they are very reliable." The actual meaning of the sign STUBBORN depends greatly on context and the signer’s apparent intent. If he/she has been talking positively about the reasons why he/she bought a Toyota vehicle and then signs that the engine is “stubborn” – the context would indicate that he/she is using the STUBBORN sign to mean “dependable” or “reliable.” However if he/she were instead complaining about why he/she was late to work that morning and signed that his engine was STUBBORN it would likely mean that the engine would not start easily. Note: The sign for "stubborn" is based on the sign for "donkey." If you do the sign "stubborn" using a double movement and a neutral or friendly facial expression it means "donkey." See: DONKEY Discussion: In a message dated 6/19/2003 8:10:32 PM Central Daylight Time, MattWilliamson@___.net writes: I was looking over the page for HORSE when you mention the sign for STUBBORN and I was wondering how you'd sign "Don't be stubborn." -- since you wouldn't sign BE. Would you just sign DON'T STUBBORN...? Thanx! Matt Williamson Dear Matt, Stubbornness "is" a state of being, thus you don't need to add a separate sign such as "BE" to indicating "being." I suppose if it were really important to get across some sort of "state of being" concept in your "Don't be stubborn" sentence you could sign DON'T ACT STUBBORN (using the ACT/DRAMA/THEATER) sign - but that sentence would imply that the person is merely putting on an "act" and that he/she deep down isn't stubborn. You could just sign "STOP STUBBORN!" or you could sign, YOU STUBBORN! FINISH-(one handed version, as in "cut it out"). You could also use the specific sign for "don't" the one that look like a smaller version of how a baseball umpire signs "safe." Thus you could sign "YOU STUBBORN, DON'T!" -- which could be interpreted along the lines of "This stubbornness of yours -- I'll have none of it!" See: FINISH See: DON'T See: STOP -- Dr. Bill Want to help support ASL University? It's easy: DONATE (Thanks!) (You don't need a PayPal account. Just look for the credit card logos and click continue.) Another way to help is to buy Dr. Bill's "Superdisk." Dr. Bill's new iPhone "Fingerspelling Practice" app is now available! CHECK IT OUT > Want even more ASL resources? Visit the "ASL Training Center!" (Subscription Extension of ASLU) CHECK IT OUT > Bandwidth slow? Check out "ASLUniversity.com" (a free mirror of Lifeprint.com less traffic, fast access) VISIT > You can learn sign language (ASL) online at American Sign Language University ™ Lifeprint.com © Dr. William Vicars

American Sign Language: "stubborn"

Notice the "stubborn" facial expression.

STUBBORN:

Note: Remember, "labels" for ASL signs are not the same as English words. They are not direct equivalents. I once saw a friend sign "T-O-Y-O-T-A ENGINE STUBBORN" and what he meant by it was that "Toyota engines don't quit, they are very reliable."

The actual meaning of the sign STUBBORN depends greatly on context and the signer’s apparent intent. If he/she has been talking positively about the reasons why he/she bought a Toyota vehicle and then signs that the engine is “stubborn” – the context would indicate that he/she is using the STUBBORN sign to mean “dependable” or “reliable.”
However if he/she were instead complaining about why he/she was late to work that morning and signed that his engine was STUBBORN it would likely mean that the engine would not start easily.

Note: The sign for "stubborn" is based on the sign for "donkey." If you do the sign "stubborn" using a double movement and a neutral or friendly facial expression it means "donkey."

See: DONKEY

Discussion:
In a message dated 6/19/2003 8:10:32 PM Central Daylight Time, MattWilliamson@___.net writes:
I was looking over the page for HORSE when you mention the sign for STUBBORN and I was wondering how you'd sign "Don't be stubborn." -- since you wouldn't sign BE. Would you just sign DON'T STUBBORN...?
Thanx!
Matt Williamson

Dear Matt,

Stubbornness "is" a state of being, thus you don't need to add a separate sign such as "BE" to indicating "being." I suppose if it were really important to get across some sort of "state of being" concept in your "Don't be stubborn" sentence you could sign DON'T ACT STUBBORN (using the ACT/DRAMA/THEATER) sign - but that sentence would imply that the person is merely putting on an "act" and that he/she deep down isn't stubborn. You could just sign "STOP STUBBORN!" or you could sign, YOU STUBBORN! FINISH-(one handed version, as in "cut it out"). You could also use the specific sign for "don't" the one that look like a smaller version of how a baseball umpire signs "safe." Thus you could sign "YOU STUBBORN, DON'T!" -- which could be interpreted along the lines of "This stubbornness of yours -- I'll have none of it!"
See: FINISH
See: DON'T
See: STOP

-- Dr. Bill

Want to help support ASL University? It's easy: DONATE (Thanks!)
(You don't need a PayPal account. Just look for the credit card logos and click continue.)

Another way to help is to buy Dr. Bill's "Superdisk."

Dr. Bill's new iPhone "Fingerspelling Practice" app is now available! CHECK IT OUT >

Want even more ASL resources? Visit the "ASL Training Center!" (Subscription Extension of ASLU) CHECK IT OUT >

Bandwidth slow? Check out "ASLUniversity.com" (a free mirror of Lifeprint.com less traffic, fast access) VISIT >