ILY sign

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The ILY is a common sign in Deaf culture meaning, "I Love You" (informal).

The ILY is a sign from American Sign Language which, as a gesture, has moved into the mainstream. Seen primarily in the United States and other Americanized countries, the sign originated among deaf schoolchildren using American Sign Language to create a sign from a combination of the signs for the letters I, L, and Y (I Love You).^[1]

The sign is an informal expression of any of several positive feelings, ranging from general esteem to love, for the recipient of the sign. A similar-looking but unrelated variation (thumb toward the palm rather than thumb extended) appears in heavy metal music culture as a "horns" hand-sign and in college football as a sign of support for various teams including the University of Texas. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns Athletics uses the ILY sign to symbolize the initials of the university (UL).

History[]

Deaf Heritage dates the origin of the ILY to 1905.^[2] The sign received significant media exposure with Richard Dawson's use of the ILY in his sign off from each episode of the Family Feud, which he hosted from 1976 to 1985. Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter reportedly picked it up from a group of deaf supporters in the Midwest and, in 1977, during his Inauguration Day parade, flashed the ILY to a group of deaf people on the sidewalk.

The character U+1F91F