Vulcan salute#"Live long and prosper"

The Vulcan "salute" first appeared in 1967 on the Star Trek second-season opening episode, "Amok Time", and was devised by Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the half-Vulcan character Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek television series.

File:Synagoge, Enschede, Mozaiek.jpg

A 1968 New York Times interview described the gesture as a "double-fingered version of Churchill's victory sign". Nimoy said in that interview that he "decided that the Vulcans were a "hand-oriented" people".{{cite news|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/08/25/91290697.html?pageNumber=173|title=Girls All Want To Touch The Ears|work=The New York Times|date=August 25, 1968|access-date=February 27, 2015|author=Diehl, Digby|page=173}} In his 1975 autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy, who was Jewish, 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 ({{Langx|he|ש|label=none|rtl=yes}} in Square Script, or Paleo Hebrew 𐤔‎), which has three upward strokes similar to the position of the thumb and fingers in the gesture. The letter Shin here stands for El Shaddai, meaning "Almighty (God)", as well as for Shekhinah and Shalom. Nimoy wrote that when he was a child, his grandfather took him to an Orthodox synagogue, where he saw the blessing performed and was impressed by it.{{cite web |date=May 11, 2009 |title=Leonard Nimoy: "Star Trek" fans can be scary (archive.li) |url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2009/05/11/leonard-nimoy-star-trek-fans-can-be-scary/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710035730/http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2009/05/11/leonard-nimoy-star-trek-fans-can-be-scary/ |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |access-date=January 1, 2019 |work=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2020 |title=An Interview with Leonard Nimoy |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgRktkvEXrM |publisher=Rachael's Centre}}

Among other things, the gesture is known for being difficult for certain people to do properly without practice or the covert pre-positioning of the fingers. Actors on the original show reportedly had to position their fingers off-screen with the other hand before raising their hand into frame. This difficulty may stem from variations in individuals' manual dexterity. It is parodied in the 1996 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 gesture and instead shakes the Vulcan's hand.

Others often greeted Nimoy with the Vulcan sign,{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-spock-star-trek-became-cultural-icon/yYSDjlNOdmp7kh5mFQJq1O/story.html|title=Leonard Nimoy, 83; was TV's iconic Mr. Spock|work=The Boston Globe|date=February 27, 2015|access-date=March 1, 2015|author=Burr, Ty}} which became so well known that in June 2014 its emoji character was added to version 7 of the Unicode standard as {{unichar|1F596|RAISED HAND WITH PART BETWEEN MIDDLE AND RING FINGERS}}.{{cite web|url=http://babelstone.blogspot.com/2013/10/whats-new-in-unicode-70.html|last=West|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew West (linguist)|title=What's new in Unicode 7.0?|date=October 20, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2014|archive-date=November 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109233024/http://babelstone.blogspot.com/2013/10/whats-new-in-unicode-70.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/06/unicode-7-0-introduces-2834-new-characters-including-250-emoji/|title=Unicode 7.0 introduces 2,834 new characters, including 250 emoji|work=Ars Technica|date=June 16, 2014 }} (The emoji's Common Locale Data Repository annotation has American English short name "vulcan salute" and keywords "finger", "hand", "spock" and "vulcan" [all lowercase].){{cite web|title=CLDR v37.0β: Germanic Annotations|url=https://unicode.org/cldr/charts/dev/annotations/germanic.html#%F0%9F%96%96|website=unicode.org|access-date=April 26, 2020}}

File:Astronaut_Salutes_Nimoy_From_Orbit.jpg astronaut Terry W. Virts performs the Vulcan salutation aboard the International Space Station on February 27, 2015, shortly after hearing of Nimoy's death. Nimoy's hometown of Boston is seen directly below.]]

U.S. President Barack Obama referenced the Vulcan salutation in his statement on Nimoy's death, calling it "the universal sign for 'Live long and prosper'".{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/27/statement-president-passing-leonard-nimoy|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|title=Statement by the President on the Passing of Leonard Nimoy|date=February 27, 2015 }} The following day, NASA astronaut Terry W. Virts posted a photo on his Twitter feed from the International Space Station showing the salutation (with the Earth in the background) as the ISS passed over where Nimoy grew up{{snd}}Boston, Massachusetts, United States.{{cite tweet|user=astroterry|number=571700996360970241|date=February 28, 2015|title=Vulcan Salute}}

{{anchor|Live long and prosper}}

The accompanying spoken blessing, "live long and prosper", was also first used in "Amok Time" alongside the salute. The phrase was scripted by Theodore Sturgeon.{{cite encyclopedia

| url = http://www.sfsite.com/gary/stur01.htm

| title = Theodore Sturgeon

| encyclopedia = Gary Westfahl's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Film

| publisher = The SF Site

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090913125816/http://www.sfsite.com/gary/stur01.htm

| archive-date = 2009-09-13

| url-status=live

| access-date = 2015-03-30

| quote = In that episode, [Sturgeon] also wrote one of the series' standard catchphrases, the Vulcan greeting 'Live long and prosper.'

}} A Vulcan translation – "dif-tor heh smusma" – was introduced in the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} The less-well-known reply is "peace and long life", though it is sometimes said first, with "live long and prosper" as the reply. The phrase has been seen abbreviated "LLAP".{{cite tweet |user=TheRealNimoy |author = Leonard Nimoy |number=569762773204217857 |date=February 22, 2015 |title=A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306101929/https://twitter.com/TheRealNimoy/status/569762773204217857 |archive-date = March 6, 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=March 4, 2015}}{{Cite news

| url = http://renegadecinema.com/36212/leonard-nimoy-dies-at-the-age-of-83

| title = Leonard Nimoy Dies at the age of 83

| date = February 27, 2015

| publisher = Renegade Cinema

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150227212004/http://renegadecinema.com/36212/leonard-nimoy-dies-at-the-age-of-83

| archive-date = February 27, 2015

| url-status = live

| access-date = 2015-03-30

}}{{cite news

| url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-dead_n_6770032.html

| title = "Star Trek" Star Leonard Nimoy Dead At 83

| date = February 27, 2015

| work = The Huffington Post

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150331012303/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/27/leonard-nimoy-dead_n_6770032.html

| archive-date = March 31, 2015

| url-status = live

| access-date = 2015-03-30

}}

An ancient Egyptian blessing "ankh wedja seneb", while its verbatim translation is uncertain, uses the three symbols "life", "prosperity" and "health"; it has been translated as "may he live, be prosperous, be healthy".Gardiner, Alan (1957). Egyptian Grammar. Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, p. 239

The New International Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 5:33 (5:30 in the Masoretic Text), includes the phrase "live and prosper" as part of Moses' admonitions to the Hebrew people prior to entering Canaan; other translations include the notion of long life as well.New International Version, Holy Bible, Deuteronomy 5:33, copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

William Shakespeare's 1594 Romeo and Juliet contains the line, "Live and be prosperous: and farewell good fellow", spoken by Romeo to Balthasar, his friend and servant.Act V. Sc iii. Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare, William. Folger Shakespeare Library Edition. 1992.{{cite web

| url = http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=romeojuliet&Act=5&Scene=3&Scope=scene

| last = Shakespeare

| first= William

| author-link = William Shakespeare

| title = Romeo and Juliet, Act V, Scene 3 :{{pipe}}: Open Source Shakespeare

| year = 1594

| website = opensourceshakespeare.org

| publisher = George Mason University

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130929154202/http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=romeojuliet&Act=5&Scene=3&Scope=scene

| archive-date = September 29, 2013

| url-status = live

| access-date = 2015-03-30

| quote = Romeo: So shalt thou show me friendship. Take thou that: Live, and be prosperous: and farewell, good fellow.

}}

The benediction "live and prosper" is attributed to the 18th-century organized crime figure Jonathan Wild in his 1725 biography written by "H.D.", possibly a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe.Originally published in 1725 by T. Warner in London.{{Cite book

| author = H. D. late Clerk to Justice – H. D., Defoe, Daniel, attributed name

| date = October 2007

| orig-year = 1725

| title = The Life of Jonathan Wild, from His Birth to His Death | url = http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?cc=ecco;c=ecco;idno=004817302.0001.000;node=004817302.0001.000%3A4;seq=30;page=root;view=text

| location = Ann Arbor, MI, US

| publisher = University of Michigan

| edition = 2nd

| page = 24

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140809200813/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?cc=ecco;c=ecco;idno=004817302.0001.000;node=004817302.0001.000%3A4;seq=30;page=root;view=text

| archive-date = August 9, 2014

| url-status = live

| access-date = 2015-03-30

| quote = Before the Sessions, Jonathan, tho' retain'd on the other Side of the Cause; visits Mr. Powell, tells him of the dangerous Circumstances he was in, and at the same Time enquires into the Value of his personal Estate; the Thief apprehended his meaning, and made him sensible that forty Pounds should not part them, (for it seems this Fellow never came into Jonathan's Books) whereupon the Bargain was struck, the Money paid down, and Mr. Wild left him with this Blessing, Live and prosper.

}}

In Trilby by George du Maurier, published in 1894, a description of an art student ends with the sentence, "May he live long and prosper!"{{Cite book

| author = George Du Maurier

| date = 2009

| orig-year = 1894

| title = Trilby

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| page = 99

| quote = Also, he went into good society sometimes, with a dress-coat on, and a white tie, and his hair parted in the middle! But in spite of these blemishes on his otherwise exemplary record as an art student, he was the most delightful companion – the most affectionate, helpful, and sympathetic of friends. May he live long and prosper!

}}

The phrase is attributed to Stephen Crane by Willa Cather in her essay "When I Knew Stephen Crane", first published in 1900: "You have to have the itch of the thing in your fingers, and if you haven't,—well, you're damned lucky, and you'll live long and prosper, that's all."{{Cite magazine

|title=When I Knew Stephen Crane

|first=Willa

|last=Cather

|author-link=Willa Cather

|date=June 23, 1900

|magazine=The Library}}

File:ISS-42 Samantha Cristoforetti Leonard Nimoy tribute.jpg|On February 28, 2015, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted this photo in a final salute to Leonard Nimoy. Her tee shirt is adorned with a Starfleet insignia.

File:George Takei by Gage Skidmore.jpg|George Takei, a colleague of Nimoy who portrayed the Star Trek character Hikaru Sulu in the original series, salutes a crowd in 2011.

File:Star Trek Beyond Japan Premiere Red Carpet- Simon Pegg (cropped).jpg|Star Trek actor and writer Simon Pegg giving a Vulcan greeting in 2016.

{{Portal|Speculative fiction|Television|Judaism}}

• Vulcan changeup, baseball pitch
• Open Hand Monument, conceived in 1948 by Le Corbusier

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• {{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgRktkvEXrM|title=An Interview with Leonard Nimoy|publisher=Rachael's Centre|date=January 22, 2020}}
• {{cite book|last1=Gershom|first1=Yonassan|title=Jewish Themes in Star Trek|url=http://www.pinenet.com/~rooster/v-salute.html|access-date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705000529/http://www.pinenet.com/~rooster/v-salute.html|archive-date=2012-07-05|date=2009}} A page by Rabbi Yonassan Gershom, with photos and diagrams of how the Salute forms the Hebrew letter Shin, the use of the Blessing Hands gesture on Jewish gravestones and jewelry, etc.
• {{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/100000003536154/nimoy-explains-origin-of-vulcan-greeting.html|date=February 27, 2015|title=Nimoy Explains Origin of Vulcan Greeting|publisher=The New York Times|series=Remembering Leonard Nimoy|author=Yiddish Book Center|work=Wexler Oral History Project|quote=Leonard Nimoy on the Jewish provenance and cultural impact of the Vulcan salute}}

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Category:Fictional symbols

Category:Greetings

Category:Hand gestures

Category:Leonard Nimoy

Category:Priestly Blessing

Category:Salutes

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