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American Sign Language: "Obtrusive"

 


Obtrusive means several things. It can mean "annoying" -- in which case it would be signed as "bother. It can mean "highly noticeable" for which we would inflect the sign "notice" to mean "highly noticeable." It can mean "sticking out." To sign "sticking out" we would need to know what it is that the obtrusive item is sticking out from. How we sign "sticking out" will vary wildly and we will end up using classifiers to show the shape of what is being described as well as its size and relationship to the item from which it is sticking out. Thus the concept of "obtrusive" might well be considered to have an "infinite" number of signs.
 

BOTHER: The dominant hand "chops" twice into the webbed area between the thumb and index finger of the non-dominant hand:


 

 

BOTHER-me:


 Note: if you do the movement just once, this sign tends to mean "interrupt."

 

 



 

INTERPOSE:

This sign means to intervene or "come between."


This sign is very similar to intermission. The only real differences are the facial expression (notice, I'm not a happy camper in this one?) and the sign is done farther out from the body. When you do it farther out from the body it conveys the meaning of affecting others.

 

 

 


 

PENETRATE:

This sign means to show something poking a hole into and/or out of something.  The somewhat "negative facial expression" I'm using here is to match the general meaning of the term "obtrusive."  However, if you precede this sign with the sign "THINK" the combination can mean "get it through your head."

 

 


 

POP-UP:

This sign can mean "show up" or "come up."  It is being done with an "annoying" facing expression to indicate whatever it is that is "popping up" is obtrusive.

 

 


 

HUMP:

This sign shows an obtrusive "hump." For example, maybe one of those obtrusive "speed bumps" they put in the road to help people remember to drive the speed limit.

 


 

NOTICE:

This sign can mean such things as "catch my eye" or "I picked that one out right away."

 


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