Yahoo News BBC viewers applaud sign language interpreter on Brexit
A sign language interpreter for BBC News has gone viral after she perfectly conveyed what one viewer described as the "perplexing f**kery" of Brexit.
The sign language interpreter doing the Brexit Agreement on BBC News is perfectly conveying the perplexing fuckery of this situation #Brexit #BrexitChaos pic.twitter.com/bA66SYMXqN
- Ell Potter (@Pottell) November 15, 2018
The video was taken during a lunchtime broadcast on the BBC World News channel on Thursday (November 15).
The interpreter can be seen reporting the latest Brexit developments on a day where two cabinet ministers resigned, a number of political figures expressed concerns about the proposed deal to leave the EU, and the phrases #BrexitShambles and #BrexitChaos trended prominently on Twitter.
"The sign language interpreter doing the Brexit Agreement on BBC News is perfectly conveying the perplexing f**kery of this situation #Brexit #BrexitChaos," the viewer shared on Twitter.
(To be clear, as this tweet takes off & people add their own comments, I am not laughing at this incredible interpreter or at the deaf & signing community; I think the way she expresses this clusterfuck is amazing, and it's the most accurate analysis of Brexit I have seen today.)
- Ell Potter (@Pottell) November 15, 2018
She added: "(To be clear, as this tweet takes off & people add their own comments, I am not laughing at this incredible interpreter or at the deaf & signing community; I think the way she expresses this clusterf**k is amazing, and it's the most accurate analysis of Brexit I have seen today.)"
The video has now had 2.8 million views.
i love how she spelled out "sh1tshow" lol
- 𝔻𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕕 𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕪 (@David__Keeley) November 15, 2018
This is brilliant. A huge endorsement for the expressive power of sign language.
- Pete Flynn (@PeteFlynn5) November 15, 2018
"i love how she spelled out "sh1tshow" lol," one person tweeted.
"This is brilliant. A huge endorsement for the expressive power of sign language," another wrote.
"She's doing an excellent work as an interpreter," a third viewer added. "Facial expressions are an important part of any sign language, also as part of grammar."
I know facial expressions are important in sign language to give proper meaning to some things, but I like to imagine they weren’t even necessary for most of this and she was just genuinely disgusted by how things are going.
- TheIrishNinjas (@TIrishninjas) November 15, 2018
Agreed. She's doing an excellent work as an interpreter. Facial expressions are an important part of any sign language, also as part of grammar. No personal opinion expressed, just fuckery as it is.
- Ilkka Kilpeläinen (@kilpeli) November 15, 2018
The University of Surrey's site on British Sign Language (BSL) explain how non-manual features such as facial expression, mouth shapes/patterns and body movements are key ways to "to give clarity, richness and additional meaning to signs".
And after a clip of Lydia Callis, the sign language interpreter for former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, went viral, Anna Witter-Merithew spoke to NPR about the importance of facial expression and body language in sign.
"It has a dual function of conveying grammatical features as well as affect," she said.
"And so some of what is being observed and may appear exaggerated is because it has a very specific grammatical purpose as well as then conveying the mood and intent of the speaker."
Earlier this month, the first trailer for Channel 4 drama Brexit: The Uncivil War arrived, marking a real transformation for its leading man, Benedict Cumberbatch.
The Sherlock actor signed on to star in the one-off drama earlier this year in the role of Vote Leave campaign director Dominic Cummings.
It's due to air on Channel 4 in 2019.
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