FW: Dap (Dignity And Pride?); Fist Bump; Pound or Fist Pound

Sun Jul 6 17:06:20 UTC 2008

The blogosphere gets rebranded:

"Ignored by both mainstream and eddy media..."

On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 8:50 AM, Benjamin Zimmer <
bgzimmer at babel.ling.upenn.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at BABEL.LING.UPENN.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: FW: Dap (Dignity And Pride?); Fist Bump; Pound or Fist
> Pound
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Safire's column today covers "fist bump" and "dap":
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06wwln-safire-t.html
>
> "Prof. James Peterson of Bucknell, a hip-hop historian, says he thinks
> it is rooted in dapper, 'neat, fashionably smart.'"
>
> Any evidence for this?
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
> On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 3:51 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > Barry Popik sent the message below to a few ads-l members, and with his
> permission I now forward it to the entire list.
> >
> > Gerald Cohen
> >
> > [From Barry Popik, Sun 6/8/2008]:
> > Ever since Obama "fist bumped" his wife on Tuesday, the terms "fist
> > bump," "pound," and "dap" have been in the news. There are some quite
> > funny YouTube videos, including a beer commercial. Perhaps Double
> > Tongued can research this.
> > ...
> > "Dap" is in HDAS from 1972, but it's at least from 1971 (see the
> > excellent Stars & Stripes article from April 21, 1971). The word is
> > probably Vietnamese for "beautiful" and not from "dignity and pride,"
> > as Wikipedia would have you believe.
> > ...
> > OED has "pound" from 1992.
> > ...
> > My theory is that it all probably started (or was popularized) from
> > boxing. The boxers historically "touch gloves" and come out fighting.
> > ...
> > ...
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fist_pound
> > A fist pound, (also fist bump and other names) is a type of friendly
> > gesture similar to a hand shake or a high five. It is performed by two
> > people tapping their fists lightly.
> >
> > A pound also can be known as a symbol of giving of respect. Fist
> > pounds can also be followed by various other hand and body gestures,
> > but are part of a dap greeting.
> > ...
> > ...
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dap_greeting
> > Dap is a form of handshake that became popularized in the white
> > mainstream society in the 1960s originating among African Americans.
> > The term dap may have originated as an acronym for Dignity and Pride,
> > (or may have been backronymed) and was popularly used by African
> > American soldiers during the Vietnam War even though as a tradition it
> > has existed in the African-American community for centuries. Though it
> > can refer to many kinds of greeting involving hand contact, dap is
> > best known as a complicated routine of shakes, slaps, snaps, and other
> > contact that must be known completely by both parties involved,
> > otherwise, an awkward but friendly improvisation occurs as the
> > participants essentially mirror the jazz culture with creative forms
> > of ordering the various moves of the hands with snaps, slaps, mutual
> > knuckle bumps and finger waves (jazz hands). Some forms or other names
> > for these greetings include "slapping five," "Black Power Handshake,"
> > "high five," "Five on the Black Hand Side," and "the pound". It is
> > often confused with the word "tap". The dap may be derived from West
> > African non-verbal traditions brought over with the enslaved Africans
> > to the Americas starting in the 1600s. It is a ritualized but common
> > form of agreement between two or more people who offer this casual
> > physical contact as an affirmation, congratulations or other type of
> > agreement with an action, clever phrase, sports event or when admiring
> > an attractive female or male.
> > ...
> > ...
> > (OED)
> > pound
> > U.S. slang (chiefly in the language of hip-hop): a modified handshake
> > in which two people touch their fists together as a gesture of
> > greeting or approbation.
> > 1992 'KRS-1' Love is gonna Getcha (song) in Washington Post 25 Oct.
> > C2/2, I give him a pound, oh I mean I shake his hand, he's the
> > neighborhood drug dealer, my man. 1997 N.Y. Mag. 16 June 28, I walked
> > up to him to give him the pound..and he just jumped in the air. 2004
> > T. FERGUSON Swingers 17 If it wasn't for sparing Rena's feelings, I
> > would've reached over and gave him a pound and said, 'Right on my
> > brotha!'
> > ...
> > ...
> > Pacific Stars And Stripes
> > dap dapt n stylish impeccably at- give me some skin a greeting
> > requesting a handshake in which the palm is held flat while the
> > greeter slides his hand along the open palm to the end of the fingers
> > going for n pseudo relationship in which two persons agree to present
> > themselves and act toward each other in this relationship Going for
> > brothers is a special friendship between two men Going for cousins may
> > be a relationship in which the ties disclaim a romantic or sexual con-
> > tent i
> > Sunday, November 01, 1970 Tokyo, Japan
> > ...
> > ...
> > European Stars And Stripes
> > dap each other Variations are many Photo Veteran Surge Calling it
> > Quits By QUIRK Staff Writer ASCHAFFENBURG many The 3rd Inf Div's
> > ranking non-com is ing after 31 years of service spending more than 20
> > of those years outside the U.S Sgt Maj Eugene F Britti of 3rd Brigade
> > Hq here tually planned his retirement two years ago but requested a
> > final tour with the Marne Div This is the second time I have served
> > with this Britti explained It is a fine outfit and I think a of it
> > That's why
> > Wednesday, April 21, 1971 Darmstadt, Hesse
> > ...
> > ...
> > Daily Review, The (Newspaper) - April 25, 1971, Hayward, California
> > Subscription - Daily Review, The - NewspaperArchie - Apr 25, 1971
> > The dap, the black power hand- shake, is de rigeur when brothers meet.
> > ... The blacks arrived in hooch doing the dap from the Vietnamese word
> > for beautiful ...
> > ...
> > ...
> > Post Crescent, The (Newspaper) - May 25, 1971, Appleton, Wisconsin
> > Subscription - Post Crescent, The - NewspaperArchie - May 25, 1971
> > ... the Black Power salute under the flagpole and greeting each other
> > with "the dap." the mystical and in- creasingly ornate soul brother
> > handshake. ...
> > ...
> > ...
> > Black Power Group in Vietnam Fights Heroin Addiction, the Enemy Within
> > $3.95 - New York Times - Aug 12, 1971
> > Dap (Vietnamese for beautiful) began as a slapping handshake. once,
> > and then turn him in. 'If he says to me, why shouldn't ihe do it, the
> > whites are pushing ...
> > ...
> > ...
> > European Stars And Stripes
> > dap and in all different ways From the beginning I had the
> > understanding that the dap had a meaningful and proud con- notation
> > among brothers here in a foreign land to show a form of unity to all
> > that witnessed it and among themselves I can't help but feel this
> > meaning of unity isn't even in the minds of some of the brothers 1 see
> > doing it It has gone from a simple handshake to Unique personality We
> > are not born black white brown red yellow but we are born a by-product
> > o
> > Saturday, September 08, 1973 Darmstadt, Hesse
> > ...
> > ...
> > Pacific Stars And Stripes
> > handshake Others treat it as nothing more than a greeting The real
> > secret lies in what each individual may feel When I dapp with a
> > brother we are meeting one another on an equal basis Pvt Murphy Dugas
> > explained Coming from the heart Pvt Franklin Elmore replied I simply
> > dapp because Im black and I recognize my brothers and sisters The dapp
> > is probably the same sort of handshake used bv black soldiers 10 years
> > ago The only difference is the number of blacks soldiers dapping
> > Sunday, February 17, 1974 Tokyo, Japan
> > ...
> > ...
> > 'Big Bus' Is Inexhaustible Film Comedy
> > $3.95 - New York Times - Jun 24, 1976
> > Then comes the fist bump. The scientist (Harold Gould) lies there
> > attended by a maniacally incompetent doctor. His daughter (Stockard
> > Channing) runs up. ...
> > ...
> > ...
> > NOTICED; A Bump and No Shake
> > nytimes.com - Nov 25, 2001
> > Now, in a tougher, more guarded world, the fist bump is beginning to
> > supplant it. ... The Hanna-Barbera cartoon ''The Superfriends,'' which
> > was first ...
> > ...
> > ...
> > A Brief History of the Fist Bump
> > TIME - Jun 5, 2008
> > Others claim the fist bump emerged off the court, citing the Wonder
> > Twins, minor characters in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera superhero cartoon
> > The Superfriends, ...
> >
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