Because all the other problems in the world are solved and new ones must be invented, tykes in the Sure Start mother-toddler group in Acomb, North Yorkshire have been banned from making hand-signs while singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” The UK Sun reports that gesture the children use to make the “diamond,” as in “like a diamond in the sky,” is too similar to the sign language for “vagina,” and could be offensive to the deaf.
You just know “like a vagina in the sky” is going to turn up in the lyrics to one of the most popular children’s songs of all time.
Quoth the Sun: “a spokeswoman for City of York Council — which is responsible for the group — insisted it was ‘a sensible decision to stop deaf children or parents being offended.’”
We're with the spokesman for the Campaign Against Political Correctness, however, who said: “This is ridiculous. Perhaps it is time for the adults to grow up.”
Upon giving the Michigan State University’s American Sign Language browser a look-see, we noticed distinct differences between the sign for vagina and the way the diamond’s done by a lady named Cullen showing the children’s hand signs for this sweet little song in a YouTube video. In the song the fingers indicate the diamond by pointing up; the thumbs are lower down and the arms are higher (“in the sky”). The vagina sign in the video dictionary is performed lower down on the body with the fingers pointing down and the thumbs up top.
Five minutes of research on Google, folks. Just sayin’.
Plus now you can look up how to sign penis. Learning is fun.