noun

ASL

ASL (noun) means American Sign Language: the sign language used by deaf communities in the United States and much of Canada, with its own grammar and vocabulary rather than being signed English. Example: “She interpreted the ceremony in ASL.”

noun

American Sign Language: the sign language used by deaf communities in the United States and much of Canada, with its own grammar and vocabulary rather than being signed English.

"She interpreted the ceremony in ASL."

phrase

informal Age, sex, location: an old chatroom question asking a stranger for those three details.

"Every conversation opened with "asl?" back then."

adverb

slang A written respelling of "as hell," used to intensify: tired asl.

"That exam was hard asl."

How to Use ASL

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishUsually American Sign Language; in chat it can mean "age, sex, location" or "as hell."

When to use it

Capitalised ASL for the language; the slang intensifier is normally lower-case.

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She interpreted the ceremony in _____.

Etymology

An initialism with several unrelated expansions; the sign-language sense is the oldest and most widely referenced in writing.

Origin: English

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ASL stand for?

Most often American Sign Language. In older chatrooms it meant "age, sex, location," and in current slang it is written as a respelling of "as hell," as in "tired asl."

Is ASL the same as English?

No. American Sign Language is a full language with its own grammar and word order — it is not English rendered in signs, and it is not universal; other countries have their own sign languages.