People with impaired hearing may use sign language. But so may people who can normally hear, but are in noisy environments, like an industrial workplace.
In a fascinating article at Altas Obscura, Sarah Laskow describes a sign language that developed among the sawmill workers of British Columbia. It was an elaborate language that could, beyond the practicalities of sawmill work, convey insults, profanities, and relationships.
In the chart above, 125 expresses “weak.” 126 means “What time is it?” 128 means “woman.”
via Neatorama
