Slapping (strike)

Slapping or smacking refers to striking a person with the open palm of the hand.

The word was first recorded in 1632, probably as a form of Onomatopoeia. It shares its beginning consonants with several other English words related to violence, such as "slash", "slay", and "slam". The word is found in several English colloquialisms, such as, "slap fight", "slap-happy", "slapshot", "slapstick", "slap on the wrist" (as a mild punishment), "slap in the face" (as an insult or, alternatively, as a reproof against a lewd or insulting comment), and "slap on the back" (an expression of friendship or congratulations).

In jazz and other styles of music, the term refers to the action of pulling an instrument's strings back and allowing them to smack the instrument: see Slapping (music).

"Bitch slap" is African-American slang that dates back to the 1990s. It is used to mean killing a woman, or to refer to a woman hitting a man, or a woman or gay man haranguing somebody, or a man hitting someone else in an effeminate way. Bitch slap has also been used in American prisons since the 1990s to refer to slapping instead of punching, with the implication that the perpetrator isn't "man enough" to deliver a closed-fist punch.

For about five years beginning in 2004, happy slapping became a UK fad. Happy slapping is the phenomenon whereby kids assault someone while being taped by a friend on their mobile phone: afterwards the video is uploaded to a site like YouTube. Media coverage of the alleged trend led to a nationwide moral panic, including a call by one Member of Parliament for schools to block mobile phone signals.

The purpose of a slap is often to humiliate, more than injure. A "slap in the face" is a common idiom, dating back to the late 1800s, that means to rebuke, rebuff or insult.

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