Word Salad (1956)

[Mark A Mandel]

In sign language research, I've heard a (native, Hearing,
English-speaker) say, approximately (wording of entire quotation, except
the target phrase, reconstructed from whole cloth and old memories):

"If anyone needs non-technical evidence that sign languages are *not*
derived from their local spoken languages, here it is. American signers
traveling in France say that French Sign Language feels very familiar to
them, and it only takes them a few days to start communicating easily
(though not at all fluently) with French signers. In contrast, American
signers watching British Sign Language see nothing but finger salad."

-- Mark A. Mandel