What is a secret handshake?

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A handshake is a familiar greeting gesture in most cultures. In contrast, a secret handshake expresses affinity with a specific group or organization, such as clubs, sports teams, or fraternities.

Secret handshakes often involve complex gestures and can reveal affiliation with a secret society.


A handshake is considered in most cultures a form of greeting and a gesture of goodwill.
Sometimes it can also represent a moment of congratulations, such as people shaking hands with a graduate or a groom. A secret handshake, in contrast, is meant to express affinity with a particular group or organization. Such groups may include clubs, sports organizations, fraternities or, in unfortunate cases, even bands. Sometimes two good friends develop their secret handshake, and part of the fun is making the handshake as tricky as possible.
A secret handshake often involves complex gestures, including touching fingers or shaking hands in different grips. While the term “secret handshake” implies secrecy, many of these handshakes are well known and can betray an affinity with a secret society or organization, like a tell in poker.
For example, police are trained to recognize a secret handshake that might belong to a particular gang.
Often an organization of any kind uses different handshakes for different occasions. For example, a new member of the Freemasons learns a handshake first, and then he will learn further handshakes as he has elevated status as a Freemason.
An easily recognizable secret, Mason’s handshake looks like a regular handshake, but the thumb is pressing on the other person’s index knuckles.
This secret handshake is used between new members of the Freemasons and indicates their neophyte status.
Occasionally the term secret handshake is applied in an entirely different sense. It can describe a previously unknown relationship between two things or two people.
For example, the book The Secret Handshake written by Kathleen Kelly Reardon uses the term secret handshake to refer to hidden rules in corporate politics. Reardon’s book attempts to unearth the unspoken truths that seem to lead to success in the best companies.
There are many tips on the internet for developing a secret handshake for fun. You can choose from thousands of variations for your handshake. You can look into some gang symbols and handshakes online to avoid unintentionally duplicating them. To be on the safe side, you should be sure that these handshakes do not look like a group handshake.



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