H ere with her thoughts on Women's History Month
is
-(applause and cheering) -Thank you. Thank you.
-Welcome to the show, Robin. -Thanks, Larry.
Now for Women's History Month, I just wanted to shed light
on a phenomenon that can help people understand women better.
Oh, that's great. Uh, what is it?
Black lady sign language.
-(whooshing) -(laughter)
-There it is. -Wow.
Okay, this is kind of cool.
So what is black lady sign language then?
Well, you might have noticed
-that black ladies use a lot of hand gestures. -Right.
-You know, non-verbal communication. -Right.
Chances are there's a black lady in your office,
-and she's probably named Rhonda. -Mm-hmm. -(laughter)
And you might misunderstand her sometimes, right?
Like, you might think Rhonda's being hostile when she's not,
or you might think she's not being hostile when she is.
-(laughter) -Oh, wow. I can see how that would be problematic.
-Right. -Yes.
So, think of this as my public service announcement
so you can understand Rhonda a little bit better.
-That's great. Okay, so how does it work? - Yeah. Okay.
-All right, let me give you a few examples. -All right.
Number one-- the single hand clap.
-(whooshing) -All right.
-Now this can be used to express happiness or anger. -Mm-hmm.
And learning to tell the difference
can actually save your life. All right, watch.
-Oh, okay, great, great. Okay. -All right.
-Oh, it's my song! -(applause and cheering)
-Oh. -Right? Right?
Wow. Okay.
It's very different from, "Bitch, what'd you say to me?"
(laughter, applause and cheering)
WILMORE: Okay.
Uh, uh, uh, I know. At first glance, they can look the same.
-But weren't those the same? -No, no, no.
-No, no, not at all, Larry. -Oh. Okay.
Now, here, just watch it in slow motion.
-All right. -All right.
(slowly): My... song.
-WILMORE: Okay. -Versus...
(slowly): "Bitch...
(laughter)
See, the finger roll is the subtle difference. Yup.
-Oh, my God! -Yup.
I would never know to look for that thing.
-Yes, yes, yes. -It's the finger thing.
That's right. Now you will.
-Now you will. -Wow. That's fascinating.
-Black lady sign language. -Thank you. All right.
All right, well, let's move on to our next gesture, okay?
-Sure. Okay. -This is the double hand clap
-versus the double hand clap on syllables. -Mm-hmm.
-(whooshing) -All right. -Okay.
Now, this one's easier to spot, but it can be deceptive.
-Right. Okay. All right. -So check this out. All right.
Yay! Great job on your performance.
-Oh. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. -Yeah.
See, that-that just looks like regular applause, right?
-Well, that's correct, because it is. -Oh, okay.
But compare that to the double hand clap on syllables.
WILMORE: Syllables, okay.
-What did you say to me, Larry? -(laughter)
(applause and cheering)
Um...
I didn't... I didn't say anything. I was just...
Don't interrupt me, Larry.
-(applause and cheering) -All right.
-I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. -Oh. Oh.
-I'm just kidding. -Okay.
But now you can see how effective it is, right?
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. -Oh, wow. Yeah.
-Man, I was... I was scared. Yeah. -The double... Yeah.
The double hand clap on syllables is used
to emphasizes a point. Yes.
-Wow. That was so effective, Robin. -Yeah.
That's, um... It really emphasizes an angry point.
-Right? Uh-huh. -Oh, yeah, well, not necessarily.
-Oh, okay. -It's tricky because
it can be used for anger or excitement.
Such as, "Oh, my God, these shoes are on sale!"
-(laughter, cheering) -You got it. You got it, yeah.
Nice! That's crazy, man. That's great.
Okay, now, we're only... we're allowed to do that.
-(laughter) -Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
It's cool, but, uh, don't let it happen again.
-(laughter) -All right. -Okay.
-(applause and cheering) -Yeah. -Got it. Got it.
-Okay. -Got it.
All right, so, time for our final
-black lady sign language gesture. -Okay.
-Now, this-this is a big one. -Mm-hmm.
The double hand wave versus the double hand wave pullback.
-Mm-hmm. Ooh. -(whooshing)
Wow. That sounds complicated.
-It is complicated. -Okay.
-But you've been doing well so far. -Okay.
So, all right, let's start with the double hand wave.
-Okay, double hand wave. -All right, all right.
-So, see, I'm just waving both hands. -Oh.
Just double hand wave. Hi! It's cute, right?
-Oh. Oh, yeah, I like that. That's good. -Say hi!
-Yeah. Hey! Hey! -Right? Right? Right? Right?
-Great. -Yeah, that's nice.
-But if I do the double hand wave pullback... -Okay.
Who said
(applause and cheering)
(Wilmore clears his throat)
See-see this is a woman who's at her wit's end.
-Yeah. Mm-hmm. -She's not in a space to reason.
-You should probably leave the room. -Wow. -(laughter)
I think I saw that on WorldStar once, that double thing.
-Yes. -Yeah. -(laughter)
-Absolutely. Very good. -It was very... It was a scary moment.
-Yeah. Okay. -It... Yes, no, it can be quite a thing.
All right, well, so, let's wrap this up by showing you
-all three in action, all right? -Oh, great.
This is what I like to call
-the black lady sign language combo platter. -(whooshing)
All right, to better understand the wonderful black ladies
in your life, you have to pay attention
and say good-bye to all your preconceived notions.
And if you ever get confused, just rewatch this segment.
-(applause and cheering) -Do you hear me, Larry?
-Yes, yes. -Okay.
I hear you. Robin Thede, everybody. We'll right back.