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We all know shaking hands or a handshake. There, we 'shake hands'.

There's one more gesture I do. I gently punch other's fist.

Something like this -

courtesy -dreamstime.com

What do we call this gesture as a noun?

They close the deal with a handshake

The close the deal with (a?) ____________

Also, as a verb?

Whenever we meet, we shake hands

Whenever we meet, we ___________

If there's no single word, a couple would do.

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  • 2
    it's called bro fist
    – user25493
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 6:33
  • 10
    I know it's hypothetical, but I don't think anyone would close a deal with a fist bump. That's just not formal. Whenever we meet, we do a fist bump.
    – Usernew
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 6:41
  • 10
    @Usernew Maybe if it was a drug deal... Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 8:25
  • 2
    @BriceM.Dempsey That paints a hilarious mental picture. "You got the goods?" "Yeah man, pound it."
    – DJMcMayhem
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 17:36
  • @Usernew there could be many such deals. You do me a favor...I do you the same... deal? First Bump!
    – Maulik V
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 5:15

5 Answers 5

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It's called a fist bump.

It's also known as pound or dap.

enter image description here

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  • 1
    that's right...though I'll wait for others to answer!
    – Maulik V
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 5:54
  • 3
    aka terrorist fist jab
    – costrom
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 17:32
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I agree with the dominant answer, but to be a tad more pedantic:

We call this gesture, as a noun:

They close the deal with a handshake.

The close the deal with a fist-bump.

As a verb:

Whenever we meet, we shake hands.

Whenever we meet, we bump fists.

QED.

ps: A fist-bump is demonstrably cleaner than a handshake, epidemiologically.

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  • 6
    I would find it perfectly acceptable to use "fist-bump" as a verb. Whenever we meet, we fist bump. Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 12:36
  • 5
    And just to be pedantic to a pedant, QED - Quod erat demonstrandum is used after a formal proof, not after an example. Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 12:38
  • @JamesWebster Of course, but the topic was a bit silly, so I used QED in a silly manner. :)
    – Alpinwolf
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 10:19
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Aside from the more formal "fist bump", a more slang term is brofist. this term is quite popular online, to the point that major Youtube celebrity Pewdiepie made it part of the title of his videogame.

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  • +1 for mentioning Pewdiepie. It is also quite often heard and seen in TV serials.
    – Usernew
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 13:22
  • 2
    I think the term is only popular because of Pewdiepie, because it only got big within the last year. Overall, "fist bump" is still the clear leader. (Actually, "dap" might be even more common, but it's hard to search for, since it has a lot of other meanings too.)
    – stangdon
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 15:19
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    For what it's worth, I'm a native speaker in my 20's and I have never heard "brofist" or "dap". There might be specific subcultures or regions where these terms are more prevalent or less prevalent.
    – Era
    Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 17:26
  • 1
    "Brofist" may be a more online term; it's definitely very young. "Dap" is better known in African American communities, dates back to the 1970s, and encompasses options more complex than the fist bump. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giving_dap Commented Apr 14, 2016 at 21:10
  • Fist-bump was popular long before Pewdiepie, generally as a form of congratulations. A handshake is more appropriate for closing a deal.
    – user32919
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 15:37
1

If your business is with a male fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, then it is customary to seal the deal with a "brohoof" - again, this is just for brony business.

Urban Dictionary:

brohoof: Friendly gesture between one brony and another in the form of connecting knuckles together (or hoofs).

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  • +1 thanks for sharing this. Quite new to me. I added the reference to improve it.
    – Maulik V
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 7:05
  • This is true, but I'm not sure this is so much a different term as it is just an adapted version of "brofist". Both the fandom and characters in the TV show itself often substitute human-centric terms for words more suited to ponies. (E,g, "clap your hands" -> "clop your hooves", "everybody" -> "everypony", etc) "Hoof bump" would also be acceptable here, for example.
    – Ajedi32
    Commented Apr 15, 2016 at 13:56
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They closed the deal with a handshake. The closed the deal with (a) fistbump.

Whenever we meet, we shake hands. Whenever we meet, we fistbump.

This is a really informal gesture, so I don't think it could be used to close deals. Since it's informal, I don't think there's any proper conjugation for it either, but it would probably follow the conjugation of the word bump.

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