HIGH FIVE

HOW TO DO A HIGH FIVE

MULTIMEDIA - ENGLISH
Videojug
April 26, 2012

High Five! Do people keep asking for ‘some skin’, or to ‘hit me’, then they want a high five from you. But how do you slap hands while remaining as cool and smooth as usual? High fiving is an artform, here’s how to be a high-five master craftsman, by Videojug.
Give me five!

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

HOW TO DO A HIGH FIVE

A high five is great way to communicate happiness, celebration or affection between friends, without the formality of a handshake, or the intimacy of a hug. It’s especially useful at moments of victory, such as in sports. But how can you learn the rules of high fiving correctly? VideoJug is here to teach you the etiquette of high fiving, as well as some funky variations on the standard high five.

1 - WHEN TO HIGH FIVE

The perfect occasions for high fiving are sports matches, parties and other social gatherings, especially when there’s something to celebrate. Don’t use high fives in a job interview, boardroom meeting, or other formal event. And never high five someone who has their hands full.

2 - THE BASIC HIGH FIVE

If you want to instigate a high five with someone, hold up your hand to about head height, facing the other person. If the person does not realize what your raised hand means, you can also say the words ‘high five’, or say ‘give me some skin’, or ‘hit me’. As soon as the other person has raised their hand to the same height as yours, you both push your hands forward quickly, slapping your palms together with a satisfying clap noise.
Make sure you watch the approaching hand closely to make sure you don’t miss, and try to match the other person’s speed of approach too. Some people find it easier to watch the approaching elbow rather than the hand. If you’re the person being invited to high five, don’t panic. Simply raise your hand to the same height as the person inviting you to high five, and follow through with a cool, confident high five.

3 - VARIATIONS

Some common High Fives are:

• The Very High Five: Both parties take a running start, leap up, and high five in mid-air. This should be reserved for extremely enthusiastic celebrations.
• The Low Five: Similar to the high five, but below waist level, sometimes with the hands horizontal rather than vertical.
• The Extra Low Five: In other words, smacking someone on their butt. This is also known as ‘The Spank It’. If you are next to someone but don’t want to make contact it’s known as a Sanitary High Five.
• Too Slow: This is when you invite someone to high five, but then pull your hand away just before contact. This can be used as an insult.
• The Serial High Five: This is a sideways high fived performed by more than two people.

All this leads us to the most famous [high] five of all. The Top Gun. It starts out like a normal high five, but then after slapping hands together both parties continue the arm movement in a 180 degree arc downwards, and slap hands together again with their palms facing backwards. The Top Gun is also known as the Flipside or the Windmill, and is obviously the most awesome high five of all time.
That’s all you need to know about hig-fiving. Try experimenting with these techniques and invent some high five styles of your own. But most of all, have fun.
High five!

EXPLANATIONS

• ETIQUETTE = the customs or rules governing behavior regarded as correct or acceptable in social or official life.
• FUNKY = cool; unconventional, original; stylish, exciting.
• SOCIAL GATHERINGS = events where a group of people get together for some reason usually connected with leisure.
• BOARDROOM = a room where the board of directors of a company meets.
• INSTIGATE = if you instigate something, you cause it to happen, you start it.
• HOLD UP = put it in a high position.
• HEAD HEIGHT = as high as your head.
• FACING = turned or placed with the front toward a specified direction.
• REALIZE = to comprehend, to understand, to become conscious of something.
• RAISED = in a high position.
• FORWARD = to the front, ahead.
• APPROACHING = coming, getting near.
• CLOSELY = if you watch something closely, you look at it carefully.
• ELBOW = the part where your arm bends (half way between shoulder and hand).
• RATHER THAN = instead of.
• FOLLOW THROUGH = do it until it is finished (proceed to the end).
• COOL = stylish, trendy.
• PARTIES = the parties are the people taking part in something. For example, in a game of chess you have two parties.
• LEAP = jump.
• IN MID-AIR = if something is or happens in mid-air, it is not on the ground but up in the air, especially if it is falling down again:
• Yesterday two helicopters crashed in mid-air.
• He jumped and I took a picture of him in mid-air.
• ENTHUSIASTIC = showing a great joy/happiness.
• BELOW WAIST LEVEL = lower than your waist (your waist is the part of your body where your legs join your trunk, at the same level as your belly-button/navel)
• SMACKING = hitting with your open hand.
• BUTT = (coll.) bottom (the part of your body where you sit)
• SIDEWAYS = moving to the left or right.
• PERFORMED = (formal) made.
• DOWNWARDS = moving to the ground, going to a lower position.
• BACKWARDS = to the back.
• AWESOME = wonderful, fantastic.

Adapted from: https://multimedia-english.com/videos/esl/how-to-do-a-high-five-videojug-4953. Accessed on October 14, 2021.