High five

The high five is a hand gesture that occurs when two people simultaneously raise one hand each, about head-high, and push, slide, or slap the flat of their palm against the flat palm of the other person. The gesture is often preceded verbally by a phrase like "Give me five" or "High five." Its meaning varies with the context of use but can include as a greeting, congratulations or celebration.

There are many origin stories of the high five, but the two most documented candidates are Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke of the Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team on October 2, 1977, and Wiley Brown and Derek Smith of the Louisville Cardinals men's college basketball team during the 1978–1979 season.

In the United States, there is a private initiative to celebrate the third Thursday of April as National High Five Day.

Origin

The use of the phrase as a noun has been part of the Oxford English Dictionary since 1980 and as a verb since 1981. The phrase is related to the slang "give me five" which is a request for some form of handshake – variations include "slap me five," "slip me five," "give me (some) skin" – with 'five' referring to the number of fingers on a hand. The "high five" originated from the "low five," which has been a part of the African-American culture since at least World War II. It's probably impossible to know exactly when the low first transitioned to a high, but there are many theories about its inception.Magic Johnson once suggested that he invented the high five at Michigan State. Others have suggested it originated in the women's volleyball circuit of the 1960s.