Information about High Five

''This article is about the gesture. For other uses, see High five (disambiguation).

"Gimme five" redirects here. For the ITV children's show, see Gimme 5.

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 mutual satisfaction to spectators 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 feature film Top Gun repeatedly. Names can be given to high fives, in order to add uniqueness. Examples of fictional characters who do this are the character of "The Todd" from the series Scrubs, and Barney Stinson from the series How I Met Your Mother.

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.

Origins

The high five, although not known by that name, actually appeared as early as 1955. During the November 15, 1955 episode "The Eating Contest" of The Phil Silvers Show, Silvers' character, Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko, gives what appears to be a high five to another character Pvt. Duane Doberman. On September 26, 1966 Dean Martin and Louis Armstrong concluded a melody with "When the Saints go Marching In" and a triumphant high-five. That episode of the Dean Martin Show aired in November of 1966 and constitutes the first known inter-racial high five that was nationally televised. The performance is available here

The high five has been used as a celebratory gesture in sports as far back as 1974. Jack McCullough of Burlington, Massachusetts claims to have been an original inventor of the high-five during CYO basketball competition. Home movies do prove the use of the high five on his basketball team. The gesture caught on very quickly throughout the league, so much so that some consider Burlington to be an unofficial birth place of the high five (though strictly speaking this is probably not true and the town has never publicly made this claim).

Magic Johnson also has claimed to be the inventor of the high five, although because he was a public figure at least as early as 1978 and there is no video footage of this, the claim is hard to substantiate. Two other 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] Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker are often credited with having participated in the first baseball high five in Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1977, with Burke receiving credit for "inventing" the high five (in the context of sports) because he raised his hand first after Baker scored a run. Prior use, however, proves that Burke did not invent the gesture. The term "high five" is widely regarded as having developed from an earlier expression, the "gimme five!" where the recipient's palm was extended flat in front, and the slapper brought his down to make a clapping sound, accompanied by the phrase "gimme five!" or "gimme some skin!" [1]. Invention of the term "high five" and popularization of the gesture is credited to Derek Smith and the 1980 champion Louisville Cardinals basketball team^[2].

The low five, slightly less popular variant of the high five, can be documented as far back as the 1920's. In the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, an ecstatic Al Jolson gives another character the low five upon hearing that he was asked to audition for a Broadway revue.

References

External links

• National High Five Day is celebrated on the third Thursday in April every year.  The Seventh Annual National High Five Day will occur on April 17, 2008.
• High Five Me includes further information on the history and different forms of the high five, plus detailed information on the science of the high five.
• The Man Who Invented the High-Five includes the story of Glenn Burke's supposed invention of the high five.
• Gimme Five: History of a Handshake documentary.

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