The pound hug (also referred to as a pound shake, hip-hop hug, one-armed hug, dude hug, cootie hug, homie hug, shug, bro-grab, bro hug, brah hug, thug hug, man-hug, or a daps) is a stylized

greeting Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings intentionally make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship (usually cordial) or social status (formal or informal) between individ ...

, exclusively performed between two people, that consists of a combination of a

handshake A handshake is a globally widespread, brief greeting or parting tradition in which two people grasp one of each other's hands, and in most cases, it is accompanied by a brief up-and-down movement of the grasped hands. Customs surrounding hands ...

and one-armed

hug A hug is a form of Affection, endearment, found in virtually all Communities, human communities, in which two or more people put their arms around the neck, back, under the armpits or waists of one another and hold each other closely. If more th ...

. Unlike the traditional hug, which symbolically and effectively removes interpersonal barriers and unites the two persons embracing, the pound hug—performed by keeping the right hand locked in handshake while the left arm wraps around the other's shoulder—interposes the obstacle of the two right arms to the joining of the two bodies.

Origin

The pound hug evolved from the dap, a type of handshake created by African-American soldiers serving in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Due to the high racial tensions in the United States during this time, black soldiers were frequent victims of racist violence and systemic discrimination in the military. The dap became a gesture of unity and solidarity between black veterans, with its movements symbolizing "I'm not above you, you're not above me, we're side by side, we're together". From these veterans, the dap dispersed into

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

culture and eventually

popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art

f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

or mass art, sometimes contraste ...

, retaining its conveyed sense of camaraderie.

References

External links

''How to give the perfect man hug'' – VideoJug
{{Gestures Greetings Hip-hop phrases Men's culture North American society