ASL Deconstruction: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Performer:
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
If you say it loud enough you'll always appear precocious!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Interpreter:
(wide-eyed in shock)
...[fill in the blank]...

What to do when this atrocious word appears in conversation? The options are...



1. Try to fingerspell the entire word (bonus points for those not needing to consult the back of the Mary Poppins DVD or cast album/film soundtrack for prompts) and hope one won't get carpal tunnel syndrome after doing it twenty times during the song.

2. Give up and sign "Big word - you know movie, Mary Poppins? That big-word." and hope the Deaf client knows which one you are referring to.

3. Sound it out in sign language. "Superman-california-fragile-list-stick-eggs-pea-alley-doe-a-shh!"

4. Cue it using Cued Speech.

5. Hope it's the Broadway version - at least they'll spell it out for us! (The choreography is based on British Sign Language as one of the choreographers' partner is Deaf).

What do you do about this atrocious word?

Sharing from "The Song That Goes Like This: The Art of Theatrical Sign Language Interpreting and Translating" (Link to original paper available to read here),  here's what I wrote about the atrocious word:

Nonsensical words and foreign phrases that might not have an equivalent signs are particular hurdles for performing arts interpreters to clear. These words are found in many productions from Dr. Seuss’s Seussical to Disney’s Mary Poppins with “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

 The Oxford English Dictionary (Unabridged, mind you), defines the word as an adjective meaning something “extraordinarily good, wonderful.” The songwriters of Mary Poppins, Richard and Robert Sherman, once explained that the word itself is a string of nonsensical syllables strung together. Therefore, should the ASL translation also consist of nonsensical signs strung together in keeping up with the parallelism?

There are three schools of thought on this linguistic dilemma.

One might choose to fingerspell S-U-P-E-R-C-A-L-I-F-R-A-G-I-L-I-S-T-I-C-E-X-P-I-A-L-I-D-O-C-I-O-U-S out every single time the word is mentioned and risk carpal tunnel syndrome. In the Broadway production, the word is mentioned 17 times including four lines where the actors spell out the word with their bodies. One time the word is actually spelled backwards by Mary herself.

If one were to factor in the reprise, that’s another ten times the word is mentioned. One mention comes in the scene where the Banks children sing it to their parents, and yet another mention comes when the father shares this atrocious word with his fellow co-workers at the bank towards the end of the story.

That’s 29 times total that the word is mentioned, and thus, deserves some time and consideration regarding the expression of this word in context. So the question remains – to fingerspell, or to sign? Or a combination of both?

Depending on whether or not the Deaf and Hard of Hearing audience present is well-versed in how words in the English language sound, and their phonetic knowledge as brought up by the “Do-Re-Mi” discussion, one might use the sounds-like method.

With this method, someone might take the atrocious word and break it up into syllables that have a corresponding sign (or the closest match). This might bring out a hilarious translation of the word. With supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, someone might sign “SUPERMAN – CALIFORNIA – FRAGILE – STICK – EGGS – PEA – ALLEY – DOE –US”.

Lastly, one might take the example from the Sherman brothers and string a series of successive signs that fit the definition of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This becomes “WONDERFUL – AWE – EYE-POPPING – FAR-OUT – TERFFICIABLE – PERFECT”. The phrase might be signed along to Super-cali-fragil-istic-expiali-docious, thus matching the aural cadence of the word itself.

There is a note to point out: the word “terrificable” in the phrase is a word I invented to describe a sign in ASL that does not have an equal English counterpart. With “terrificable”, it can mean disbelievingly and terribly terrific.

Again, this is another example of a tongue twister on the hands that performing arts interpreters face when interpreting for a musical.

How would YOU sign 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'?