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A fist bump, Originally called Respect in Jamaica and later the UK, (also called power five, dap, fist pound, touch, bones, spud, or brofist) is a gesture similar in meaning to a handshake or high five. A fist bump can also be a symbol of giving respect or approval. It can be followed by various other hand and body gestures and may be part of a dap greeting. It is commonly used in baseball and hockey as a form of celebration with teammates, and with opposition players at the end of a game. In cricket it is a common celebratory gesture between batting partners.
Contents
Definition
Merriam Webster Dictionary: a gesture in which two people bump their fists together (as in greeting or celebration)
The gesture is performed when two participants each form a closed fist with one hand and then lightly tap the front of their fists together. The participant's fists may be either vertically oriented (perpendicular to the ground) or horizontally oriented. Unlike the standard handshake, which is typically performed only with each participants' right hand, a fist bump may be performed with participants using either hand.
History
The "fist bump" or "pound" can be traced as far back as the late 1800s and early 1900s to the boxer's handshake as a way to greet when hands are gloved, or to Jamaica where it was used as an informal greeting.
Smithsonian researcher LaMont Hamilton suggests that the dap originated during the Vietnam war as a modified form of the Black Power salute, which was prohibited by the US military.
Time magazine wonders if it evolved from the handshake and the high-five. They cite knuckle bumping in the 1970s with basketball player Baltimore Bullets guard Fred Carter. Others trace the gesture to the Wonder Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon Super Friends, who touched knuckles and cried "Wonder Twin powers, activate!".
In light of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the Dean of Medicine at the University of Calgary, Tom Feasby, suggested that the fist bump may be a "nice replacement of the handshake" in an effort to prevent transmission of the virus. Similarly, a medical study has found that fist bumps and high fives spread fewer germs than handshakes.
Fist bumping behavior has also been observed in chimpanzees, according to a book published by Margaret Power in 1991.
In early June 2008, the Fox News Channel ran a news piece about a fist bump of Barack Obama and his wife at the end of one of Obama's meetings in his presidential running. In it, hard news anchor E. D. Hill said the gesture may be a "terrorist fist jab". Fox later apologized for the term.