High five
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the gesture. For other uses, see High five (disambiguation).
A high five is a celebratory gesture made by two people, each raising one hand to slap the raised hand of the other — usually meant to communicate to spectators mutual self-satisfaction or to extend congratulations from one person to another. The arms are usually extended into the air to form the "high" part, and the five fingers of each hand meet, making the "five".
Several variations on the standard high five exist, in order to add uniqueness to the experience and to maximize satisfaction. For example, one such variation is the "flipside" also called the "windmill"; this method begins like a regular high five, however upon meeting up top, both high-fivers continue to swing their arms downwards until they meet again down low. This method is depicted in the film Top Gun repeatedly.
"The Origin of the High Five", National High Five Day, April 20th, 2006.</ref>
Numbers of participants larger than two, through a variety of techniques, can still perform a single high-five at one time.
It is generally regarded inappropriate for the person who has just done something high-five worthy to initiate the high-five (by putting his or her hand up first), especially if the spectators are not as impressed as the performer of the act is with him or her self. It is considered acceptable when the successes are monumental/exceptionally rare; however, each individual event is subjectively interpreted by the spectators, which can differ from the performer's reaction.
If one initiates a high five by raising a hand into the air and no one consummates the celebration by slapping the raised hand, the initiator is said to be "left hanging." This is considered to be a somewhat embarrassing faux pas.
The high five, although not known by that name, actually appeared as early as 1955. During the November 15, 1955 episode of The Phil Silvers Show, entitled The Eating Contest, Silvers' character, Sergeant Ernie Bilko, gives what appears to be a high five to another character.
Two individuals linked to the invention of the high five are former baseball player Glenn Burke (along with then teammate Dusty Baker) and former college basketball player Lamont "Mont" Sleets.[1]
