My mother's language added yet another complex of signs: her words conveyed meaning and betrayed her psychological and social background and her particular views of marriage as a social institution with personal implications. Layers of meaning were embedded into a single object in one moment of time. Signs are as arbitrary as Saussure implied. However, Landry would not be wearing a gold band on her fourth (the "ring") finger if that object did not itself signify something in the cultural context. A finger has a name associated with the object, and marriage is the sign. The symbol of ring on a ring finger is nearly universal and yet at the same time it is arbitrary. It is not as if the ring finger is the only one that can wear a ring, and there is no reason why the condition of being married cannot be signified by a different symbol: a necklace or a headband, for example.

The personal, the social, and the ultimate concept convene in the sign. The signifier is far less important than the signified. A sign is "the...

When Lisa Landry patted her belly and made a comment about her weight, I had yet another opportunity to understand how semiotics imbues communication. In many other cultural or social context, touching her belly could mean anything: that she had a stomach ache, that she was pregnant; that she was praying to the gods. However, Landry accompanied her gesture with a comment about her weight. Again, her weight is itself a neutral or arbitrary idea. In our culture, though, weight is a matter of personal identity. Thinness is a beauty ideal, and if a person has padding on their belly they may be considered unattractive. In other cultures the reverse is true. Signs are arbitrary, as Saussure suggested. The signifier (patting her belly and referring to weight) plus the signified (the social inferiority that results from being overweight) equals the sign: the whole message.
Reference

Chandler, Daniel. "Semiotics for Beginners."