Not strictly a form of manually coded English, Contact sign in fact is a blend of a local Deaf Sign Language and English. This contact language can take place anywhere on a continuum of intermediate stages, from very 'English-like' to very 'Deaf-language-like'; signers from these two different language backgrounds will often meet somewhere in the middle. Because of Contact sign's standing as a bridge between two distinct languages, it is used differently by each individual depending on their knowledge of English and of the deaf sign language. The term Contact sign has largely replaced the earlier name "Pidgin Sign English" (PSE) because this form of signing does not display the features linguists expect of a pidgin.