Motion diagram. A Deaf-recorded clip from the PopSign corpus (CC BY 4.0) exists for this sign and can be placed here.
WAIT
“wait”
How to make it
Hold both open hands to one side, palms up, and wiggle the fingers.
Where the sign comes from
UnknownNo reliable source. We'd rather say so than invent one.
Fingers drumming as time passes is a tempting reading, but we have no source for the sign's origin.
No sources — which is the point of the “unknown” tier. If you know of a documented account, the historical databases are where to check it.
The sign, taken apart
Every ASL sign is built from a handshape, a place it's made, and a movement. Learn to see these three and you can read and store any sign.
Location
Neutral space
Made at the neutral space.
Movement
wiggling fingers
Both hands move together.
Repeated. Palm facing up.