Thelow five is a hand gesture when two people slap palms together. One party extends an open palm, face upward at about waist level, the other party strikes the palm in a downward swing with their open palm. It is sometimes known as "slapping five", "give me five", or "giving/slapping skin". Archaic terms for it include "slip-slapping", "slapping the plank" and "soul shake".[1]
The gesture is an antecedent of thehigh five which appeared in the 1970s.[2]
The low five had been known since at least the 1920s when it was used as a symbol of unity among African-Americans,[3] and had more of a status as an underground symbol of solidarity than as a widespread gesture.[2] InAfrican-American English this was known as "giving skin" or "slapping skin".[3]
In the 1927 filmThe Jazz Singer, actorAl Jolson performs the low five, in celebration of the news of a Broadway audition. Written evidence can be found inCab Calloway's 1938Hepster's Dictionary.[3] "Gimme Some Skin" was a term current in1940s Hipster subculture and had crossed over to mainstream culture, as seen in the 1941 Abbott and Costello filmIn the Navy where theAndrews Sisters perform "Gimme Some Skin, My Friend" and choreograph giving low fives.[4] Soon after in the high-profile 1943 all-star Black filmStormy Weather, Cab Calloway receives a double low five fromThe Nicholas Brothers as they begin their dance number to Calloway's song "Jumpin' Jive".Fred Astaire later told the Nicholas Brothers that the "Jumpin' Jive" dance sequence was "the greatest movie musical number he had ever seen".[5]
Variations that evolved in the black community includefive on the black hand side (giving skin on the darker outer hand side) andfive on the sly (a low five behind the back).[3]