Why is clapping our hands together a sign of appreciation? I mean, it is just basic scattered noise at the most, and putting our hands together repeatedly to make clapping noises hardly seems congratulatory. It's as if you want to slap the performer...:bugeye: What happened to the good old fashioned whistles and catcalls? I'm sure an actual effort of vocalized gratitude for a job well done is much more treasured than hollow, rhythmic claps.

In China it is used as a greeting :)

But why is clapping used as applause in the West? It's fun, of course..

Why in america do we have the "standing ovation" but in england if you try it people will just look at you like your nuts?

you people obviously haven't been to metal concerts :rolleyes:


edit: 6+am, I'm enough
wake me in 8 hours
goodnight

Perhaps it is to do with the fact that as babies, we achieve our motor skills before developing our vocabulary. The only noise we make with our vocal chords are crying, and that is bad. So we have associated it with misery rather than joy?

Another thought:
Music is highly prized around the world. I have yet to see a culture without some sort of musical element. So maybe the beating of a drum brings up an ancestral desire to join in the celebration, but lacking bongos, we use our hands instead?


In China it is used as a greeting :) Really? I never knew that...thanks! :)
Why in america do we have the "standing ovation" but in england if you try it people will just look at you like your nuts? They do? I never knew that...I would've thought that it was just as common in England as it is in North America. I've seen award shows and concerts that took place in England ... there were standing ovations. *shrugs*

Yes, in China, clapping is used by a large group to greet a single person, usually.

Mind you, it's a pretty traditional..tradition..so the younger generation of the very modern cities might not use it any longer. Although, from what i've heard and read about China, even though they are as modern as the rest of us (some cities anyway), they're still preserving older cultural traditions.

YAY China! :D

:eek: "they'll look at your nuts"

what???!!:eek: :D

If the noise of applause is bothering, then try the sound of "one hand clapping"!

:bugeye:

Originally posted by wet1
If the noise of applause is bothering, then try the sound of "one hand clapping"! It can be done! :) I myself have achieved the sound of one hand clapping ... it is a dark and dangerous art, for it goes against all that nature presides over ... only the most experienced and proficient may perpetrate this feat of human superiority!

....

Anyway.

:D

And thanks for the info, NenarT! It will come in handy the next time I go to HK. :)