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. The salute first appeared on the original Star Trek series in the second season opening episode, "Amok Time". It was devised by Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played the half-VulcanMr. Spock. The gesture is famously difficult for most people to do without practice, and actors on the original show reportedly often had to position their fingers off-screen with the other hand, before raising their hand into frame. This stems from the fact that the ring finger lacks a separate muscle apart from the pinkie finger. It is also said that this gesture is easier to perform with the non-dominant hand (i.e. if one is right-handed, it is easier to do left-handed) . This is parodied somewhat 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 that was the inspiration for the Vulcan salute.
In his autobiography I Am Not Spock, Nimoy wrote that he based it on the Priestly Blessing performed by JewishKohanim with both hands, thumb to thumb in this same position, representing the Hebrew letter Shin (?), 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)", and has a special significance in Judaism.
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.
In the 1978 SF sitcom Mork & Mindy, the Vulcan salute was spoofed by the main character Mork (Robin Williams), whose greeting was to open and close his fingers in rapid succession while saying "Na-nu na-nu," which became a popular catchphrase.
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, as if he were flashing a gang sign.
Buzz Lightyear gives the salute to Woody in the 1995 computer animated film Toy Story accompanied by "Farewell."
The salute appears in the 2004 movie The Terminal, as an acceptance of a marriage proposal.
The gesture is shown to be a greeting frequently used by Hiro Nakamura, a character on the NBCscience fictiondramaHeroes. Note that in the story, Hiro's father is played by George Takei.
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).
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". Additionally, in another 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 is currently being used by ECW Smackdown wrestler Big Daddy V, although he uses it in reference to his name, rather than Star Trek.
In the movie, "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", when Jimmy greets the Yolkians in the recording, he does the vulcan salute.
In the movie, 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 movie, Back to the Future, Marty does the salute (while claiming to come from Vulcan) to Georges... But claiming to be named Darth Vader.
The Jewish Origin of the Vulcan Salute -- a very complete 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.
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