quote:

ANGRY parents have accused BBC TV character Mr Tumble of greeting watching children by saying "I'm f****** you" in sign language. But the CBeebies character has defended his greeting, saying his gestures mean "I'm happy to see you". Mr Tumble was caught out when Jamie Miller, who works for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), was watching the show with his five-year-old daughter Katie. “Katie, who is learning sign language, asked what the gesture meant. I didn’t know what to tell her,” he said. Mr Miller, who said the signs for "happy" and "f******" are quite similar, contacted the BBC five times but Mr Tumble continues to open the show by saying with "I'm f******* you". The BBC has defended Mr Tumble - presenter Justin Fletcher - saying he uses Makaton signals, which are different to British Sign Language. RNID spokeswoman Kate Sidwell said: “We advised the BBC that using Makaton would cause confusion. “Makaton is used more for children with learning difficulties — it is essentially a different language.” In British Sign Language “happy” is shown by gently brushing the palms against each other. The swear word is made by brushing the hands together between the thumb and first finger.

fvcking and happy are almost the same word. who would've thought?

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