22-09-10 An A-cup, please!

[Border Prince]

Well' I've heard that the Horned Hand is a ward against The Evil Eye and all other kind of curses, spells and other similar nasty things...

Not much of a source, but it says the following in Dracula:

"5 May. [...] When we started, the crowd round the inn door, which had by this time swelled to a considerable size, all made the sign of the cross and pointed two fingers towards me. With some difficulty I got a fellow-passenger to tell me what they meant; he would not answer at first, but on learning that I was English, he explained that it was a charm or guard against the evil eye."

[Don Alexander]

Nope! Thumb is extended, that's something else

According to the most informed source, this is something different.

[strangeoutlook]

And anyone notice that all of them are doing the devil horns as they get transformed??

Nope! Thumb is extended, that's something else

All my life, this has been the sign language symbol for "I Love You", though I'm not quite sure yet how it applies to the current strip. It is a great handshape, and always positive, though sometimes used incorrectly for the "devil horns/rock out" symbol (which is sans thumb).

You can even make it into a text emoticon!: \lm/ or maybe \!m/

[David Johnston]

Well' I've heard that the Horned Hand is a ward against The Evil Eye and all other kind of curses, spells and other similar nasty things...

Yeah. But this is just the hand gesture Japanese cartoon characters make when they are somehow stunned and in shock.

[Kamino Neko]

And anyone notice that all of them are doing the devil horns as they get transformed??

Nope! Thumb is extended, that's something else

Probably among other things, it's ASL for 'I Love You'. It may also be a mudra, but I think that's thumb-in, too.

That gives a really odd interpretation of the situation.

[WCRI]

Well' I've heard that the Horned Hand is a ward against The Evil Eye and all other kind of curses, spells and other similar nasty things...

Yeah. But this is just the hand gesture Japanese cartoon characters make when they are somehow stunned and in shock.

Wait... Seriously? Jap-anime characters make this hand gesture when stunned or shocked physically?

[Azrael]

In some anime/manga, yes. In the slap-stick comedies quite a lot actually.

[Ravenhull]

Considering that one of the big 'offenders' is Ranma, it seems appropriate in this arc...

[David Johnston]

Well' I've heard that the Horned Hand is a ward against The Evil Eye and all other kind of curses, spells and other similar nasty things...

Yeah. But this is just the hand gesture Japanese cartoon characters make when they are somehow stunned and in shock.

Wait... Seriously? Jap-anime characters make this hand gesture when stunned or shocked physically?

Yes, at least they used to, back in the day. Read the first example here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FaceFault

And yeah, someone points out that it comes from a gesture to avert the evil eye.

[The Jon]

For those wondering about the hand signals, there are a couple of possibilities. The first possibility is Giz is signing "I love you" to someone she knows, or her entire readership since that is the sign for "I love you" in sign language. The other possibility is that she's mimicking something in Ranma 1/2, where Rumiko Takahashi would draw her characters with that sign showing when they were caught off guard. It would also make sense since a good deal of that manga revolves around gender bending.

Edit: Apparently ninja'd, but I hope I elaborated.

[Adamas]

Yes, at least they used to, back in the day. Read the first example here:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FaceFault

And yeah, someone points out that it comes from a gesture to avert the evil eye.

Damn it David! Why must you drag me into a wiki-walk?! *Repeated facefault*

[strangeoutlook]

I am deaf, so I know this hand gesture IS the ASL sign for "I Love You".

However, I think the explanation of the absurd hand gestures/limb placement in Japanese anime/manga is a much more plausible explanation.

[Don Alexander]

Adamas, the TV tropes link was not even hidden! You only have yourself to blame for clicking.

[Kol Drake]

Considering that one of the big 'offenders' is Ranma, it seems appropriate in this arc...

With deference to WCRI, I think Rave hit the nail on the head.

I mean, after all, Giz and Dave do sneak alot of 'homage' bits into the strip so it only makes sense.

lex parsimoniae -- "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one".

[BobDole]

Completely off topic, but Kol - I love your Winslow avatar.