Bear, buck or trampoline ?: Search for the right sign for Baerbock

What is the right sign for the three candidates for Chancellor Annalena Baerbock (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Armin Laschet (CDU) and Olaf Scholz (SPD)?

The deaf community is currently discussing this question.

Because if new personalities come to the fore on the political stage, a suitable gesture has to be found for them.

The example of Annalena Baerbock is currently showing that there is often no uniform solution straight away, but rather many different ideas.

Since there were already several suggestions for the Green politician in advance, the German Deaf Association obtained a survey on its social media channels at the beginning of May.

The main question was whether a literal or figurative translation for Baerbock would be more popular with the deaf.

According to the German Deaf Association, there are around 83,000 deaf and hearing impaired people in Germany.

Three signs for Angela Merkel

There are several options when looking for a suitable sign name for politicians or celebrities. For example, you can orientate yourself on the look of the person - for example if the person has a particularly noticeable hairstyle - like the quiff of the former American President Donald Trump. But eye-catching accessories, such as the aviator sunglasses popular with his successor, Joe Biden, can also play a role. Typical forms of behavior, facial expressions and gestures are also included. For Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), three different signs have developed over time: the corners of her mouth pointing downwards, her easily recognizable page haircut and the gesture for the word "remember", which is similar to her surname, when the hand is on her Temple is placed. 

For Baerbock, the deaf community sent in suggestions with reference to her dimple, her past as a competitive gymnast and her surname, among other things. According to Wille Felix Zante of the German Deaf Association, most of the participants were in favor of the latter - a combination of the animals "bear" and "Bock": "On Twitter there was a very clear majority for the" Bear "and" Bock " -Combination, it was similar on Instagram - however, “Bear” - “Bock” was about on a par with “Dimple”. There were generally too few votes for the "trampoline". " 

However, this combination was not universally accepted. In response to the vote, a group of five deaf activists and lecturers published a video on YouTube last week with their proposal for the Greens' candidate for chancellor. The team around the sign language interpreter and lecturer Katja Fischer spoke out in favor of the sign of a jumping movement on the ear. With their proposal, the group wants to allude to Baerbock's previous career in trampoline jumping as well as to the striking drop earrings that the green candidate for chancellor often wears.

According to the group, the expression of jumping as a gesture also works particularly well, as it also stands for baerbock's open, but also motivated and combative character, says co-initiator Fischer.

Your version works as a visual variant that links several concepts with one another.

For interpreters in particular, it is important to have a sign name that is used as uniformly as possible throughout Germany, says Fischer.

The group around Fischer found the combination of “bear” and “goat”, which received the most votes in the vote, unsuitable: “The goat is a male animal and for Baerbock as a woman we did not find that really appropriate.” In addition, it was lying the term “goat” is close to the term “goat”, which in turn could be interpreted as bitchy or stubborn.

The decision is made in language usage

According to Zante from the German Association of the Deaf, signs and words are created naturally.

"A name sign should be relatively individual and memorable - that way people can be called faster," says Zante.

Sometimes there are obvious solutions, but with characters from public life it is even more difficult because it is more likely that the sign could already be taken, continues Zante. 

In addition to Baerbock, the Chancellor candidates Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz have not yet finally clarified which signs should be used.

For example, Scholz can choose from the reference to his short hair or the “Sch” of his surname, says Fischer.

With Laschet, on the other hand, it was an idea to represent the L of his surname in a movement on his chin as a laugh, says Zante.

The deaf community decides for itself which signs Baerbock, Laschet and Scholz will use. Normally, signs are not determined by voting, but gradually establish themselves, says Fischer.