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briefly, namaste is a traditional hindu greeting meaning "i bow to the divine in you"
In my dealings with immigrants from the subcontinent, I have found that namaste seems to have become universal among them, regardless of their religious affiliation. Where I live, most Indians are either Sikh or Muslim, but namaste still elicits a familiar smile and reciprocation from them. My use of it started as an affectation years ago, inspired by the fact that my father was born and raised in India, but is now entrenched and based on the beauty, elegance and defererence of the gesture. In a town where Indians have been the victims of some hateful crimes, it also helps put them at ease. I wonder if the website's spelling it "namasthay" was meant to indicate that the "t" in "namaste" should be pronounced as an English "th", as in "the", or "thing"? If so, I have definitely learned something today, as I have never heard it pronounced that way.
Salaam
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Carpal Tunnel
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I wonder how the middle finger display came to be called "the bird". In the thirties there was a raucous noise called a "Bronx cheer" made with the mouth, but sounding like loud flatus,which was also called a "razzoo" or a bird.I think it died out because of the retort, "now do one with your mouth!" Another bit of repartee from that period was to call someone a ziegus, alleging that they blew their nose on toilet paper, because their face looked so much like their ass, their bowels did not know which way to run. It was a period of obvious taste and refinement.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear bridget96: thanks for the link on "namaste" it was good reading something uplifting on Sunday. Bill Hunt
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old hand
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old hand
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Combination of having both hands horizontally out at chest level, palms up, fingers spread, elbows close to body and shrug - to mean I don`t know.
Has anybody else ever seen swiping the hand at the neck quickly and repeatedly in a horizontal motion to mean - urgent cut it short or shut up?Have you ever noticed that in English there is also a specific series of notes which mean "I don't know" when hummed? You might use it If, for example, your mouth is full and you don't want to get French fries all over the person who is asking you something. Of course the absolute pitch varies but you might write it Low-High-Middle, the same notes as saying "I don't know". As for the cut it short or shut up thing - yes, it's a good one. Best done toward your buddy, as they talk to someone else (who can't see you), and your friend is about to put their foot in their mouth, that sort of thing. Vivid facial expressions help, too! 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yup, I don't know can be perfectly said without uttering a word.
My son does that ALL THE TIME [insert heavily frustrated emoticon here]. I will be glad when he is out of his mumbly stage and ARTICULATES.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I will be glad when he is out of his mumbly stage and ARTICULATES.... but what will he articulate, and will you then wish he adopted a civilized mumble? 
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In another thread it was stated that some psychiatric patients could tell when speakers were being insincere even when sound track could not be heard, or something of that sort. Meaning that body language can contradict words when we pay attention to it.
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that body language can contradict words when we pay attention to it.
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A good example of this is how important facial expression and body language is to people who are deaf and who use American Sign Language, and its variations country-to-country.
wow
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American Sign Language, and its variations country-to-country.
What an intriguing statement. It almost sounds like ASL is the parent of all sign languages, which I'm not sure I can agree with. I have several friends who sign and they find ASL very different from both Aus and NZ SL. One major difference is the extent to which finger spelling is used. Aus and NZ SL make very limited use of finger spelling, while it seems to be quite common in ASL. Then you have something like Nicaraguan Sign Language, which is a fascinating story in its own right.
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It almost sounds like ASL is the parent of all sign languages, which I'm not sure I can agree with.
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Oh, Dear Max ... not my intention at all. I MEANT that there are many variations of gestural sign language around the world.
NOT that ASL was the daddy of them all ... I worded it badly. Forgive?
wow
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