Why do people point to their wrist to ask the time? If they are close enough to hear the response, seems they would be close enough to simply ask.
by 
Jade
ANSWERS: 6
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If you ask someone you don't know they could be deaf. Or, it's just a way to get the point across.
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People are creatures of habit. pointing to the wrist for the time is like holding a thumb and little finger to ones ear, to facimilate to make or receive a pone call. Its just lazy human nature. The good side is that if we all went deaf at once, we would then know the sign language for asking the time.
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Since we don't always pay attention or listen to strangers on the street, I think we use the motion of looking at our watch because it's an easier way to catch someone's attention we don't know. Besides, if you ask someone if they have the time, they might just say "yes" and keep on going! It happened to me once and I've always remembered it, waiting to be able to do it to someone else! There's another one we do, except it's usually towards someone we know. We hold our hand up to our head when we want someone to call us. But why, oh why, do we hold our thumb and little finger out? That's not how I hold the phone up to my ear! Think about it! Do you?
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A couple of the replies say that the person could be Deaf, but if they were Deaf and replied using sign language then the chances are you would not understand the reply anyway. I don't know about ASL (American Sign Language), but in BSL (British Sign Language) there are signs for "half past" "quarter to" etc. that most hearing people would not understand at all.
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I reckon it's simply reinforcing the question. If you only ask the time there is no sense of urgency or need, but if you also pantomime your wrist then you convey a greater need to know. Like another poster, I have been flummoxed when asking for the time. A well to-do gentleman, who obviously had a fob-watch approached and I asked the time while pointing to my wrist. He pulled his sleeve back slightly, showed me that he had no wrist-watch and carried on his way. I was speechless for some time.
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Well, it makes it clear that they are asking for 'the time of day.' Otherwise if you ask 'Do you have the time?', someone might come back with 'Do I have the time for what?' Someone might think that you are soliciting, heaven forbid. Also, if the person you are asking doesn't speak your language, they could still show you their watch and you could read the time for yourself - it's a universal gesture crossing linguistic boundaries.
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