Oglala

Bruce Ingham bi1 at soas.ac.uk
Thu Jan 18 08:28:56 UTC 2001


I know it's irrelevant, but it's still interesting about the sign for contempt or
disgust.  The arabs or more strictly Arabians have a similar sign
where they lift both hands to the shoulder facing forward and closed
then flick them both down and forward spreading the fingers as
though shaking off water or something nasty.  This means
'useless', 'bad' or 'disgusting'.

Bruce

I noticed on your language message board, some one asking about Oglala.
...
Oglala or as is said here, Okdada, means a sign of contempt.
Scatters ones own is the sign language sign for this word.
You take your thumb and bring it to the tips of your fingers, to make a
group of five. Then you flick our wrist quickly outwardly.
This means throwing sand or dirt at someone. Upon receiving the sign the
oldtimers went for their knifes.

These Lakota people were always doing this and so received the name.
...

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Dr. Bruce Ingham
Reader in Arabic Linguistic Studies
SOAS



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