The meaning of "ASL" shifts dramatically depending on the era of origin, the underlying technology, and its grammatical function within a sentence.
| Meaning | Primary Era | Syntactic Role | Common Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Sign Language | 1817, Present | Proper Noun / Language | "She is taking an ASL course this semester." |
| Age, Sex, Location | 1995, 2008 | Standalone Interrogative | "Hey, welcome to the chat! asl?" |
| As Hell (Intensifier) | 2018, Present | Adverbial Intensifier | "That drive was boring asl." |