# Will fist bumps eventually replace the handshake as the preferred greeting gesture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881 "2009-06-15T22:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/1 "2009-06-15T22:10:36Z")
Has the fist bump popularity wave crested or is it still gathering momentum? I see more fist bumps than I used to, and I think they may eventually replace the handshake if the trend continues. In their favor they are far more sanitary than handshakes. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/2 "2009-06-15T22:24:39Z")
I haven’t fist-bumped anyone in two, three years. But what I really came in here to say was > [@Bart Simpson](#): > > I can’t believe “Smell ya later” replaced “Goodbye.” ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/3 "2009-06-15T22:28:12Z")
The fist bump is still unsanitary. I say both will be overtaken by the jump-in-the-air chest bump. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/4 "2009-06-15T22:29:08Z")
Somehow, I really don’t see fist bumping a Judge or opposing counsel as a viable alternative. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/5 "2009-06-15T22:37:40Z")
No. The fistbump may replace the high-five, but it’s too casual to replace the handshake. Even the Obamas, who may have done more to popularize the fistbump than anyone else, don’t fistbump the Queen of England. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/6 "2009-06-15T22:38:42Z")
The day you see lots of people fist bump is the day you know it has passed from ‘coolsville’ to ‘loserville’. You stated you see it all the time, it is now officially dead, gone the way of high five, the thumbs up, the elbow bump and the raised fist. RIP ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/7 "2009-06-15T22:38:59Z")
hmmm, let’s see … [a cross-cultural social ritual that’s at least a couple of millenia old](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handshake) being supplanted by a faddish, frat-boy gesture that’s only been around a few years. Yeah, that’s the ticket. It’s true, many people have NO sense of history. It’s like those top-25 lists of “the best” whatevers that EW does, where nothing before about 1985 is mentioned. Quel horror, you mean they actually made movies before I was born? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/8 "2009-06-15T22:39:01Z")
No. It’s not like the fist bump was invented last year, it’s just getting a minstream popularity boost from Obama. Maybe there will be a permanent niche for it, but it’s not taking over for the handshake. I think the proper Simpsons quote here is, “If these trends continue… _ayyy_!” ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/9 "2009-06-15T23:44:57Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > No. The fistbump may replace the high-five, but it’s too casual to replace the handshake. Exactly what I was going to say, in almost exactly the words I was going to say it in. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/10 "2009-06-16T03:12:07Z")
I thought fist-bumps became ironic around four or five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/11 "2009-06-16T16:11:39Z")
Where have you been it’s now elbow taps. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/12 "2009-06-16T16:43:09Z")
Like the bell-bottomed leisure suit replaced most forms of formal and business attire. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/13 "2009-06-16T16:44:13Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I thought fist-bumps became ironic around four or five years ago. And moreso after becoming the preferred greeting among terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-fist-bumps-eventually-replace-the-handshake-as-the-preferred-greeting-gesture/499881/14 "2009-06-16T16:48:07Z")
Personally I prefer to nestle the other guy’s scrotum in my hand. You have to get it just right - it has to be gentle, but there needs to be just enough pressure on the testicles to say that you mean business. Practice it on your uncle first.