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Spock demonstrating the Vulcan salute.
The Vulcan salute is a hand gesture consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger, and the thumb extended. Often, the famous line "live long and prosper" was briefly said after it. The salute was devised and popularised by Leonard Nimoy[1], who portrayed the half-Vulcan character Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek television series in the late 1960s.
[edit] Overview
Blessing gesture that was the inspiration for the Vulcan salute.
The Vulcan salute first appeared in 1967 on the Star Trek second season opening episode, "Amok Time". The gesture famously has a reputation for being difficult to make without practice or the covert pre-positioning of the fingers, and actors on the original show reportedly had to position their fingers off-screen with the other hand before raising their hand into frame. This reputation may stem from variations in manual dexterity as individuals finding the gesture elementary to perform are less likely to report this fact than those finding the gesture difficult to make. This reputation is parodied somewhat in the motion picture Star Trek: First Contact when Zefram Cochrane, upon meeting a Vulcan for the first time in human history, is unable to return the Vulcan salute gesture and instead shakes the Vulcan's hand.
Blessing gesture depicted on the gravestone of Rabbi and Kohen Meschullam Kohn (1739-1819)
In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by Jewish Kohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (ש), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the salute. The letter Shin here stands for Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)". Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue. There he saw the blessing performed, and was very impressed by it.[2]
The accompanying spoken blessing, "Live long and prosper" (Dif-tor heh smusma in Vulcan language as spoken in Star Trek: The Motion Picture) also appeared for the first time in "Amok Time", scripted by Theodore Sturgeon.[3] The less-known preceding greeting is "Peace and long life." This format is similar to common Middle Eastern greetings (Shalom aleichem in Hebrew and Salaam alaykum in Arabic), meaning "peace be upon you", and its reply, "upon you be peace". Egyptology specialists have found that the Ancient Egyptians used a phrase which, when translated, is an almost perfect representation the phrase, read as "May he live long, prosper, and be in health."[4]
[edit] Use outside of Star Trek
- In the 1978 SF sitcom Mork & Mindy, the Vulcan salute was spoofed by the main character Mork (Robin Williams), whose salutation was to open and close his fingers in rapid succession while saying "Na-nu na-nu," which became a popular catchphrase.
- The gesture features in "Weird Al" Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" music video, used as a gang sign.
- It appears in an episode of The Colbert Report: in the segment "The Wørd", after Stephen Colbert drapes a gold necklace saying "Word", in reference to a slang word for agreement, he makes the gesture with both hands, also used as a gang sign.
- Buzz Lightyear gives the salute to Woody in the 1995 computer animated film Toy Story accompanied by "Farewell." He does it again in Toy Story 2 (1999), when saying goodbye to the other Buzz. Earlier in the sequel, he gives the salute before jumping off the roof to head for Al's Toy Barn.
- The salute appears in the 2004 movie The Terminal, as an acceptance of a marriage proposal.
- It is a feature of Star Trak Entertainment, a hip hop record label founded by Chad Hugo and Pharrell.
- The gesture is shown to be a greeting frequently used by Hiro Nakamura, a funny character on the NBC science fiction drama Heroes. Note that in the story, Hiro's father is played by George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu on the original Star Trek series and that the numberplate of hiro's fathers car is the registration of the original Enterprise.
- It also appears in the episode "Fear Her" of the British sci-fi show Doctor Who.
- George Takei gave the salute on the NBC's improvisational comedy show Thank God You're Here at the end of one of his sketches, entitled "AM Cooking Show."
- On one of animated Leonard Nimoy's appearances on The Simpsons, Mayor Quimby salutes Nimoy with the Vulcan salute but mistakenly accompanying it with "May the Force be with you", which is from the wrong franchise (Star Wars).
- The Devil Major Arcana of the Rider Waite Tarot deck makes a similar gesture.
- On the Futurama episode "Space Pilot 3000", Fry approaches Nimoy's disembodied head in a jar, and asks him to do the "Thing" (Giving Nimoy the salute). Nimoy's head chuckles and responds, "I don't do that anymore". In the episode "Jurassic Bark", Fry gives the Vulcan Salute to his dog Seymour as he leaves, and delivers the accompanying line "Live long and prosper."
- The gesture was used by ECW/Smackdown wrestler Big Daddy V, although he used it in reference to his name, rather than Star Trek.
- In the 2001 film Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius when Jimmy greets the Yolkians in the recording, he gives the Vulcan salute. His friend, Sheen, is also seen doing this when taking the Ultra Lord oath.
- In the 2002 film Ice Age the human baby being cared for by the animals gives the Vulcan salute when he sees an alien spaceship frozen in the ice cave.
- In the 1985 film Back to the Future, Marty does the salute to George, claiming to be an alien from the planet Vulcan named Darth Vader.
- In the music video for "Summer Hair = Forever Young", by The Academy Is..., at 1:13 singer William Beckett gives the salute.
- In the 2002 film The Time Machine, the virtual artificially intelligent librarian Vox-114 made a Vulcan salute when Alexander Hartdegen leaves him.
- In the 2009 film Monsters vs Aliens, the President of the United States gives the salute to an invading alien robot after failing to play the 5-tone musical phrase from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" on an electric keyboard.
- In season 2, episode 11 of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory, Penny gives Sheldon a napkin autographed by Leonard Nimoy with the message, "Live long and prosper" written on it, as a Christmas gift.
- The codenames for the Zendikar block expansion of Magic: the Gathering are Live, Long, and Prosper.
- In the April 7, 2009 episode of The Colbert Report, during the Better Know a District segment, Colbert and New York Congressman Dan Maffei exchange the salute.[5]
- In an interview published on May 16, 2009 in Newsweek, U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly performs the Vulcan salute after briefly discussing his childhood appreciation of Star Trek and his recent viewing of the 2009 film. [6]
- On "A Different World," Walter Oakes (played by Sinbad) used the Vulcan death grip to subdue two drug dealers who tried to kidnap Whitley Gilbert (Jasmine Guy) during a spring break trip to Hilton Head, S.C. When Dwayne Wayne (Kadeem Hardison) asked Walter where he learned the move, Walter gave the Vulcan salute and said, "Star Trek."
- In The Raven (1963 film) Dr. Adolphus Bedlo played by Peter Lorre performs magic in one scene using an identical hand gesture.
- In episode 77 of Animaniacs, which parodied Star Trek, Wakko performs the gesture, but alters the words to "Live long and perspire."
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