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American Sign Language:  "keep"


KEEP:
[Use a single motion.  The right hand moves to the left hand.  The left hand is held slightly out from the body and remains mostly stationary.]  However...if I'm telling someone to "keep it" I tend to move the whole sign in his or her direction as I whack the two "K" hands together.  If I'm talking about myself keeping it then I do the sign close by my body.


Also see: LOAN-[lend_borrow]
Also see: take-CARE-of
Also see: what-KIND-of / type-of



Sample sentence: Do you keep a picture of your old boy friend?  = OLD BOY FRIEND PICTURE YOU KEEP?


Note: A very common approach to referring to a former partner (such as a former boyfriend) is to spell "EX" prior to signing BOY FRIEND instead of using the sign OLD.
I couldn't imagine someone signing "MY OLD WIFE" to mean "ex-wife." So even though you can use "OLD" to refer to a previous boy or girl-friend I recommend that you don't use "OLD" for referring to former spouses.
 When referring to a "former but no longer" lover -- of the two signs "OLD" or "EX" the safer choice would be to use "
EX."  My reason for including the sign OLD in this curriculum is to help point out that it does indeed occasionally express a  meaning other than "long in age."

You can learn sign language online at American Sign Language (ASL) University ™ 
Sign language lessons and resources.  Dr. William Vicars © Lifeprint.com

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