• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

The Vulcan Salute in Real Life

I can do it with both hands, but the right is easier. But I never do it in public.

Every now and then I would do it in public. Much easier with the left hand then the right, as with left it's natural, where as with the right - it's a struggle. So at conventions I generally do it with the left hand (where as Zachary Quinto did it with his right hand)

You'd better hope that no one quotes that out of context!

Half the posts in this thread are like that. :bolian: Mine for instance! (That may have been intentional.)
 
I've known how to do the vulcan sign since I was a kid, I was taught by my step-dad, and I always felt special when my classmates couldn't do it :hugegrin:
I only do the vulcan sign to my sister because it annoys her haha
 
I used it at a wedding reception last week, a wedding I had officiated at. Some guests asked me if I was still into Trek (Duh!!) so I promptly made the salute. 'Live Long and Prosper' is a nice salutation for newly married couples.:)
 
i can do it with both hands and i can do long and ring fingers together/index and little fingers out with both hands.
Can you switch between the two effortlessly? I somehow can and people have told me it's kind of uncommon/tricky for most people :shrug:
 
i can do it with both hands and i can do long and ring fingers together/index and little fingers out with both hands.
Can you switch between the two effortlessly? I somehow can and people have told me it's kind of uncommon/tricky for most people :shrug:

I sure can! It took a while to get my left to perform it effortlessly though. I guess some can't because its the whole rubbing your belly and patting your head simultaneously trick; some just find it difficult.
Yay Trekkies for being above brain games!
 
I remember in Highschool, I learned how to spread my fingers so I could do it on both hands. Of coarse, I also did it for Mork and Mindy Nanoo Nanoo! :D
 
Both hands easily, and always been surprised people can't do it at all. Does anyone know a good medical explanation why some can and some not?
 
For the same reason some people can't do that curly thing with their tongues? I think it's some genetic thing. (So I guess Bashir can do it!)
 
I can do it easily with both hands since I was about 6 or 7 years old.


I think the thing that astonishes me the most about the salute is not only the number of supposed Trek geeks who get it wrong, but the number of supposed Trek geeks in modern entertainment(see "Big Bang Theory") who get it wrong. The biggest misconception is that all it is is the middle and ring finger divided. Pretty uniformly I see over and over again, especially among actors playing Trek geeks, the thumb tight against the hand/forefinger, when it's always been presented on ST with the thumb straight out to the side. You'd think that with there being no exceptions to how it is properly done in ST that no one would get it wrong, but they do. A lot.

After seeing some fan on a local TV news show, I was just curious if I could find some evidence of this and this is what I found real quick:

Mostly fans, Although the first two I have a hard time focusing on the hands.
5782055439_a996693279-1.jpg

hot-trekkie-Vulcan-salute-1.jpg

images1.jpg

images.jpg


Some celebs that get it wrong:
sthayden.jpg


Let alone Conan?
shatner-conan.jpg


And she plays Troi in TNG: The XXX Parody....LOL
5782482762_ed0edaf162.jpg


That was just an hour or so.....:eek:
 
You know, I was really, really hoping this would be about the blessing of the Cohanim. Too much to ask, I guess.

Well, most folks who do the vulcan do it like the Blessing of the Cohanim. Though I must admit, when I do priesthood blessings at church, my fingers really want to spread out like the Blessing of the Cohanim.

I am completely discombobulated, bad dysgraphia klutz, but I can do it with both hands without trouble.
 
Re:

You'd better hope that no one quotes that out of context!

Giggle...


I can do it easily with both hands but I only use it when being silly, like a mock salute. I used to have a girlfriend who was a Trekkie and we used it as our secrete greeting and farewell sign
.

Now that a Girlfriend to keep.

I use it in my classroom with my 5th graders as our sign for "be quiet."

Thats unique...wonder what the school board thinks!

I am rather proud of myself for being able to do it effortlessly,
Wax on, wax off....

I use it when I'm rolling into the parking lot at work in the morning and I see someone I know heading into the building.
Now that is kinda creepy....


If I'm mad at someone, I do it upside down,
Now that is kinda Kinky....

I can only do it with my right hand =[ and when I do it I'm always aware of it
Generally if your doing it right, you will be aware of it...

I'm trying to teach my 4 year old nephew how to do it (mainly to see if I can get him to freak out his grandma that I can't stand). My husband and I use it on each other as a goof off

That would be a good way to freak out a grandma...

yes, i do use it. often to people i work with. or to my family. i can do it with both hands
Family eh?

Did it when I got my picture snapped in the last marathon I ran,
A picture is worth a 1000 worlds...

My fingers do not cooperate,
That sucks...

I basically never do it though. I try to make my niece do it though to annoy my brother
What elders teach kids these days...

I can do with both of my hands thanks to my friends in the third grad
That what we call a education...

I can do it with both hands easily, though with right a bit better than with left.
Same here...

I used it with my Trek friends as a teenager, but eventually I grew out of it.
A real woodie Allen here, its all fun and games till...


I can do it with both hands, and do the inverse back/forth
That skill right there...

I can do it easily with both hands.
Ambidextrous fun...

Every now and then I would do it in public. Much easier with the left hand then the right, as with left it's natural, where as with the right - it's a struggle. So at conventions I generally do it with the left hand (where as Zachary Quinto did it with his right hand)
All time classic...and I know a lot of girls, and some guys, who would pay good money to see Zachary Quinto do that...

can do it with both hands, but the right is easier. But I never do it in public.
Good man, public can lead to problems like getting arrested...

I used it at a wedding reception last week, a wedding I had officiated at.
Now that sounds like fun, fertility blessing of old?

Can you switch between the two effortlessly? I somehow can and people have told me it's kind of uncommon/tricky for most people
Some can, some cannot...


I sure can! It took a while to get my left to perform it effortlessly though. I guess some can't because its the whole rubbing your belly and patting your head simultaneously trick; some just find it difficult.
Indeed, or rubbing and typing at the same time...


Both hands easily, and always been surprised people can't do it at all. Does anyone know a good medical explanation why some can and some not?
/QUOTE]
Some people are not wired that way.


For the same reason some people can't do that curly thing with their tongues? I think it's some genetic thing. (So I guess Bashir can do it!)
Indeed, and with how much of a jerk he was in season 1, I am sure he had to get a lot of practice...

I can do it easily with both hands since I was about 6 or 7 years old.
A young starter!

I am completely discombobulated, bad dysgraphia klutz, but I can do it with both hands without trouble.
Indeed....

Wait, we are talking about Vulcan Salutes....ahem...

Live long and prosper! :devil::bolian:
 
I use the vulcan salute as a kind of wave. Like if I'm waving goodbye to people, or saying "thank you" to someone in the car for letting me pass or something.
 
I can do it easily with both hands since I was about 6 or 7 years old.


I think the thing that astonishes me the most about the salute is not only the number of supposed Trek geeks who get it wrong, but the number of supposed Trek geeks in modern entertainment(see "Big Bang Theory") who get it wrong. The biggest misconception is that all it is is the middle and ring finger divided. Pretty uniformly I see over and over again, especially among actors playing Trek geeks, the thumb tight against the hand/forefinger, when it's always been presented on ST with the thumb straight out to the side. You'd think that with there being no exceptions to how it is properly done in ST that no one would get it wrong, but they do. A lot.

After seeing some fan on a local TV news show, I was just curious if I could find some evidence of this and this is what I found real quick:

hot-trekkie-Vulcan-salute-1.jpg

This one is the one I saw that inspired me to comment on my observation.
 
Do you use the Vulcan salute in real life? How often, and where? Is it easy or difficult for you to get your fingers in position? Do you use the Vulcan verbal salutations Live Long & Prosper or Peace and Long Life in real life conversations?
In order:

When I'm showing off that I can do it. Rarely, with people I'm friends with. It's easy for me, hence the showing off. And no.
 
For the same reason some people can't do that curly thing with their tongues? I think it's some genetic thing. (So I guess Bashir can do it!)

Yes, I believe its genetic. I can't do it naturally, so of course I spent hours forcing my fingers apart so I could do the salute. Sometimes I'll do the salute to people I work with or don't know very well. I don't care if they know I am a Trekkie :)
 
One of my girlfriends can do it with the toes of both feet, moves the big toe over and divides the smaller toes into pairs.

Wigs me out.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top