In case you haven't heard already: the sign language interpreter at the funeral for Nelson Mendela was a fake. He signed pure gibberish. If Thamsanqa Jantjie knows any sign language, he failed to demonstrate it at the funeral.
But perhaps, as this animated .gif (that's pronounced jeeeef) demonstrates, he was actually trying to make balloon animals.
Quantum Leap, episode 273: Sam leaps into the body of a sign language interpreter at Mandela's memorial. "Oh boy."
— Matt Westcott (@gasmanic) December 12, 2013That, or we were just watching an episode of the science fiction show Quantum Leap.
My @SeinfeldToday plot: George tells high school crush he's a sign-language translator; accidentally has to translate Mandela funeral.
— jon gabriel (@exjon) December 12, 2013Or Mr. Jantjie was trying to impress a lady and failing spectacularly.
What we do know is that the signs made no sense at all. Jimmy Kimmel brought a real interperter onto his show, who then translated Mr. Jantjie's gestures.
Should a person in this situation, as Jimmy Kimmel advises, just do the macarena dance? Maybe Mr. Jantjie was trying to start his own dance craze, as this video illustrates.
(via Robb Allen and American Digest)