HONEST in sign language

"Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving." -- James E. Faust.

ASL signs for HONEST

How to sign "honest" in American Sign Language (ASL)?

Definition: free of deceit and untruthfulness; sincere.

Pronunciation (sign description): Fingertip of middle finger in horizontal "H" handshape in contact with non-dominant palm-up hand, palm facing left if right-handed, slides across palm.

Context or usage examples: "Yes, he's honest", "Honesty is the best policy".

Beyond basics

We Deaf signers also modulate the base signword "honest" with movement and intonation to convey nuances of meaning. Here is a few examples. Words don't tell a full story of the subtle varieties of intonation.

Meaning: honest; honestly.

Pronunciation (sign description): Fingertip of middle finger in horizontal "H" handshape in contact with non-dominant palm-up hand, palm facing left if right-handed, slides across palm twice, bit shorter than the one-movement version.

Context or usage examples: "Well, honestly, he disagrees with you", "come on, tell me the truth, come on", "to be honest, ...".

In ASL, one-word sentence HONEST+ or HONEST++ with raised eyebrows (for yes/no question) means "Honestly?", "Are you telling the truth?" Sometimes, "HONEST, YOU?" or "HONEST+, YOU?"

Another, HONEST++ with raised eyebrows and tilt-up head (sometimes with a slight smile) suggests something like "Really? Tell me honestly."

Vocabulary

Related signs: TRUTH, CANDID, SINCERE, FRANK, GENUINE, FAIR.

Opposite: DISHONEST, INSINCERE, FALSE.

Usage/Grammar

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Written ASL

[Note: ASL writing is not an official standard. This sign language writing remains in a state of open space to allow room for experiment, evolution, and improvement.]

ASL written for HONEST

Written ASL digit for "HONEST" contributed by the ASLwrite community, 2018.

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