To sign 'stinky,' start by forming a flat handshape with your dominant hand, palm facing toward you, and touch your fingers to your chin or mouth area. Next, move your dominant hand down and forward, flipping it so the palm faces down. Bring it down to slap the open, upward-facing palm of your non-dominant hand. It is absolutely crucial to use a disgusted facial expression, such as wrinkling your nose, to convey the 'stinky' meaning rather than just 'bad'.
To sign this, first sign 'GARBAGE' by tapping your dominant hand under your opposite arm. Then, sign 'STINKY' by bringing your hand from your chin down to your opposite palm. Remember to wrinkle your nose in disgust to clearly communicate that the smell is terrible.
Start by signing 'DOG,' then follow up with the sign for 'STINKY.' Because you are describing a strong, unpleasant smell, emphasize your nose-wrinkling facial expression. This helps the person watching understand exactly how bad your dog smells right now!
Sign 'CHEESE' by pressing the heels of your hands together and twisting, then sign 'STINKY.' To show that the cheese is really stinky, exaggerate your facial expression even more, squinting your eyes and wrinkling your nose to show the intensity of the smell.
To sign this, first sign 'GARBAGE' by tapping your dominant hand under your opposite arm. Then, sign 'STINKY' by bringing your hand from your chin down to your opposite palm. Remember to wrinkle your nose in disgust to clearly communicate that the smell is terrible.
Start by signing 'DOG,' then follow up with the sign for 'STINKY.' Because you are describing a strong, unpleasant smell, emphasize your nose-wrinkling facial expression. This helps the person watching understand exactly how bad your dog smells right now!
Sign 'CHEESE' by pressing the heels of your hands together and twisting, then sign 'STINKY.' To show that the cheese is really stinky, exaggerate your facial expression even more, squinting your eyes and wrinkling your nose to show the intensity of the smell.
Yes, the handshapes and movements are identical to the standard ASL sign for 'bad.' The critical difference is your facial expression. Wrinkling your nose and looking visibly disgusted changes the meaning from a general 'bad' to 'stinky.'
You should always use your non-dominant hand as the base. If you are right-handed, your left hand will be the stationary base with the palm facing up, and your right hand will do the moving. If you are left-handed, simply reverse this setup.
Yes! Pinching the nose is another very common and widely accepted way to sign 'stinky' in ASL. However, the variation shown in this video uses the sign for 'bad' combined with a strong facial expression, which is also a great way to convey a foul odor.
