ASL Idioms: What Does “Train Gone” Mean?

Just as English has idioms like "You missed the boat," ASL has expressions that do not make sense when translated literally. 

These expressions originated within ASL rather than being direct translations from spoken English, making them a prime example of how ASL is a distinct, independent language. 

The most well-known example is TRAIN-GONE. Literally meaning "the train has left," it is used similarly to the English idiom "missed the boat." You might sign this while looking at someone who failed to catch a joke everyone else laughed at, or someone who asks for a repetition of something everyone else already understood. 

However, because it carries a teasing tone, using it too frequently can come across as rude.

Moreover, if you try to translate English idioms into ASL by simply swapping words one by one, it rarely works. Translating "It’s raining cats and dogs" using the signs for CAT and DOG would result in nonsense. Yet, expressing RAIN with a large, forceful movement and an intense facial expression can naturally convey the meaning of heavy rain.

This is because ASL is a language that relies more on meaning, facial expressions, and body movements than on individual words.

Indeed, non-manual markers are an important feature of ASL that provide critical and specific information when conversing.