Awkward turtle

{{Short description|Slang hand gesture}}

{{Wiktionary}}

File:When in an awkward conversation or situation just make an awkward turtle.jpg

Awkward turtle is a slang two-handed gesture used to silently mark a moment or situation as awkward. The gesture is likely used in most cases playfully and ironically. Some have remarked that giving the gesture is a sort of celebration of social discomfort.{{cite web |last=Victor |first=Terry |title=Unconventional English in a Conventional Setting: The Genesis and Joy of the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English |url=https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/22607/1/Revista_Alicantina_de_Estudios_Ingleses_24_12.pdf7 |date=2011 |publisher=Universidad de Alicante |access-date=15 January 2018 |quote=In current wordless slang there is a significantly widespread trend for elaborate gestural constructs that signal an awkward silence or situation (‘this is an awkward situation – let’s get out of here/by recognising it we remain aloof’), epitomised by, yet not limited to, the awkward turtle gesture (which exists in a couple of distinct variations) and the awkward palm tree (which actually has its own FacebookTM page). This gesture is little more than an archly contrived in-group signalling: playful, certainly, probably ironic in intention, but in active circulation. The only way to gain a sufficient understanding of, say, the awkward turtle through the medium of a dictionary must be to see the gesture in action. |page=294 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web |last=Stein |first=Andrew |title=If being awkward is cool, I'm Miles Davis |url= http://www.browndailyherald.com/2006/02/03/andrew-stein-06-if-being-awkward-is-cool-im-miles-davis/ |date=3 February 2006 |publisher=The Brown Daily Herald |access-date=15 January 2018}}{{cite book|last1=Peckham|first1=Aaron|title=Mo' Urban Dictionary: Ridonkulous Street Slang Defined|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|isbn=0740788922|page=12}}

The awkward turtle is gestured by placing one hand flat atop the other with both palms facing down, thumbs stuck out to the sides and rotating to look like flippers.{{cite web|title=ASL Sign for Sea Turtle|url=https://www.handspeak.com/word/search/index.php?id=6379|website=HandSpeak.com|access-date=15 January 2018}}{{cite web |last=Leber |first=Jessica |title=Do the Awkward Turtle |url=http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2008-04-15/leber-awkwardturtle.html |work=Columbia News Service |date=15 April 2008 |publisher=Columbia Journalism School |access-date=6 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106124352/http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2008-04-15/leber-awkwardturtle.html |archive-date=6 January 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last=Grate |first=Rachel |title=If I Were to Meet You Again |url=http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=passwords |work=Passwords |date=4 June 2012 |access-date=15 January 2018}}{{cite book|last1=Coleman|first1=Julie|title=Global English Slang: Methodologies and Perspectives|date=10 January 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=1317934768|page=42}}