Vulcan Salute ?

[ItsGreen]

Spock introduces the Vulcan Salute in Amok Time, right handed

T'Pau answered left handed

Surak right handed

Sarek right handed

Tuvok left handed

T'Pao in mirror universe right handed

Voyager (T'Pao's mother left handed to left handed)

young Spock to old Spock right to right

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?

 

[Chaos Descending]

... 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?

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

 

[Metryq]

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.)

 

[Melakon]

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.

 

[Shawnster]

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

 

[Rayna]

... 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?

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

I think we have a winner...

 

[A beaker full of death]

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

I think we have a winner...

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.

 

[Shawnster]

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

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

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.

 

[Nerys Myk]

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.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Or the hand usage works like the British v-fingers?

 

[mb22]

Cohanim use both hands:
http://www.jordicohen.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_9260.jpg

 

[A beaker full of death]

^ No peeking allowed!

 

[mb22]

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

 

[Melakon]

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

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

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.

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.

 

[SignGuyHPW]

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.

 

[Gojira]

Probably a dominate hand sort of thing. Its possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.

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!

 

[Nerys Myk]

Probably a dominate hand sort of thing. Its possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.

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!

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.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Probably a dominate hand sort of thing. Its possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.

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!

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.

You do this in public?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Probably a dominate hand sort of thing. Its possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.

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!

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

 

[Nerys Myk]

Probably a dominate hand sort of thing. Its possible that some of the actors could only don't with one hand. And as mentioned, some couldn't do it with either.

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!

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

When I spell dominant wrong.