A slap or "smack" is a broad stroke made with the open hand or the back of the hand, as opposed to a punch that is made with a closed fist. Slaps are frequently made across the face, but can be also made across hands or any other body part, and can use either the palm of the hand or the back of the hand.[citation needed]
Contents |
Etymology and definitions [link]
The word was first recorded in 1632, probably of imitative origin (onomatopoetic). 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 music, the term is used in jazz, referring to the action of pulling strings back and allowing them to smack the instrument.[1][2] The word "slap" is frequently used to minimize the perceived violence of an act, even if the act was especially severe. One person may hit another across the face and injure him/her severely, but in calling it a slap, it may seem less severe, since slapping is often associated with minor violence.[3][4]
Cultural aspects [link]
The purpose of a slap is often to humiliate, instead of injure, the target. Depending on culture, a slap is also at times administered to a child or spouse as a reprimand or corporal punishment.
Depending on the severity of the slap, the victim may charge the assailant with assault. This may constitute a common assault.
Studies show slapping to be used more in female acts of violence than male acts, males using different methods. Many females tend not to slap males now due to legal issues such as a slap possibly being counted as an assault. Slaps can often bring about controversy and humiliation, often when they are unexpected by the slapee.[5] Studies have shown that women who inflict minor acts of violence, such as slaps, on their spouses, are more likely to be abused themselves. Men who are slapped by their wives for certain behaviors are more able to justify in their own minds return violence when their spouse does not perform well. Often the return violence is more severe than the initial slap.[6] Thus, although Western society is more accepting of women who hit men than of men who hit women, women who slap statistically seem to be more likely to suffer from return violence than women who don't.[6] Also, both men and women who are violent with their spouses are more likely to slap or spank their children as well.[7]
United States intelligence agencies use "insult slaps" as a form of an enhanced interrogation technique.
In India, the insult insult slap is a political maneuver used to express disapproval of ideas of a particular public figure or politician.[8]
Popular entertainment [link]
Slapping is very often portrayed in films and television programs. For example, in Slap Her... She's French girls and women typically slap boys, men and other females who offend them in some way and humiliate them. Such films have been criticized for helping to create a cultural acceptance of women slapping men, at least as opposed to men striking women.[6] This acceptance of gender-based abuse has been justified by some on the basis that women are generally physiologically weaker than men and cause less harm than men when they slap.[9]
See also [link]
 |
Look up slap in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References [link]
- ^ slap, Online Etymology Dictionary
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary
- ^ Cotterill, Janet. Language in the Legal Process. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. pp. 81-82, ISBN 0-333-96902-2
- ^ Renzetti, Claire and Raquel Bergen. Violence against Women. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. p. 45, ISBN 0-7425-3055-8
- ^ Robbins, Pamela Clark and John Monahan. "Mental Disorder, Violence, and Gender." Law and Human Behavior. (Dec 2003) 27.6 pp. 561-571.
- ^ a b c Loseke, Donileen et.al. Current Controversies on Family Violence. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2005. pp. 66-67 ISBN 0-7619-2106-0
- ^ Lamb, Michael. Parenting and Child Development in "Nontraditional" Families. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999. p. 311 ISBN 0-8058-2748-X
- ^ https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/11/28/the-etiquette-of-the-insult-slap/
- ^ Denmark, Florence and Michele Paludi. Psychology of Women. New York: Praeger, 2008. p. 562 ISBN 0-275-99162-8
https://wn.com/Slap
Slap!
Slap! is the fourth studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was a radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude. The songs now inspired dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics were celebratory as opposed to victimist.
Track listing
Personnel
with:
also appearing on this record are: Carl Douglas, Elvis Presley, Mark E. Smith, Dagmar Krause, Philip Glass, Adam Ant, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, George Gershwin, Penny Rimbaud, Jake Burns, Rob 'n' Raz, Lenny Bruce, Muszikas Ensemble, Mark Perry, Gang of Four, and Poly Styrene.
References
Slapping (strike)
Slapping or smacking refers to striking a person with the open palm of the hand.
Etymology and definitions
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). A slap with the back of the hand is typically identified as a "backhand slap" and, on occasion, a "pimp slap." 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.
