Vulcan Salute ?

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by ItsGreen, Oct 10, 2013.

  1. ItsGreen

    ItsGreen Captain Captain

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    Spock introduces the Vulcan Salute in Amok Time, right handed
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    T'Pau answered left handed
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    Surak right handed

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    Sarek right handed[​IMG]

    Tuvok left handed

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    T'Pao in mirror universe right handed
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    Voyager (T'Pao's mother left handed to left handed)

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    young Spock to old Spock right to right
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    so if this is the customary and time honored Vulcan greeting, how come it isn't always with the same hand by every Vulcan like a handshake or military salute?
     
  2. Chaos Descending

    Chaos Descending Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think a FAR better question is "why would an alien custom necessary have to follow any traditional human paradigms?"
     
  3. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Maybe the handedness indicates the political party one belongs to. Or maybe that's how one recognizes the good Vulcans and bad Vulcans, or evil twins in alternate universes. (The Latin "sinister" also means left, on the left, as well as awkward, wrong, perverse, unlucky, injurious, which may be why left-handed people were persecuted throughout history. Fans of OH! MY GODDESS may have noticed that World of Elegance's black wing is on the left.)
     
  4. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    Maybe it's just whether you're right-handed or left-handed, and doesn't really matter according to Vulcan social conventions. There's no physical contact like with a handshake. It might be more like a wave.
     
  5. Shawnster

    Shawnster Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Maybe it's the same reason why the Bajoran earring isn't consistently worn on the same ear by all Bajorans.
     
  6. Rayna

    Rayna Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    I think we have a winner...
     
  7. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And the answer is so that the human, American, 1960s audience will be able to understand, if not relate to, the characters.

    As for the Vulcan salute, we all know it originates with the blessing of the Cohanim. What's funny is that many people, like Celia Lovsky, couldn't do it, so someone assisted manually before the cameras rolled, and they just kept their hand in that position and raised it up at the right time.
     
  8. Shawnster

    Shawnster Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In the 60s, the 2 finger peace sign salute was quite popular.

    [​IMG]

    Was this hand gesture always used with the same hand? I think that the generation of the 60s that used this hand gesture could relate quite comfortably with the Vulcan salute without it mattering which hand the salute or gesture was made with.
     
  9. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    Probably a dominant hand sort of thing. It's possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.
     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2013
  10. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    Or the hand usage works like the British v-fingers?
     
  11. mb22

    mb22 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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  12. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ No peeking allowed!
     
  13. mb22

    mb22 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    The hands are usually covered - not sure what young Nimoy got to peek at.
     
  14. Melakon

    Melakon Admiral In Memoriam

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    I know that gesture dates at least as far back as WWII (V for Victory), and might go back earlier than that.

    Richard Nixon frequently used both hands in the pose when arriving at a destination to greet well-wishers.
     
  15. SignGuyHPW

    SignGuyHPW Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    Nimoy picked this gesture because it was an old Jewish hand gesture that he thought would work for the character. I'm not sure if using it with a particular hand was something that got deemed important. There's tons of reasons to be used to explain why they could use it with different hands.
     
  16. Gojira

    Gojira Commodore Commodore

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    My dominate hand is my right hand but I cannot do the salute very well with it. However, I do it easily with my left hand. Go figure!
     
  17. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I can do it with both hands. Though it feels more natural with my left. I'm left handed. As I said, the actors probably used which ever hand they could do it with.
     
  18. Gov Kodos

    Gov Kodos Admiral Admiral

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    You do this in public?
     
  19. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ok, I've been seeing this everywhere, and it's making me nuts: When did "dominate" become an adjective?
     
  20. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    When I spell dominant wrong.