How to perfect the high five

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National High Five Day is this Thursday. Here's your guide to mastering six varieties of the move:

1. High five

The grilled cheese of high fives. For perfect execution, keep upper arm parallel with the ground, palm outward and eyes focused on partner's elbow as you extend your arm forward to make contact.

2. Freeze-frame high five

Introduced to the mainstream by high-five enthusiast Barney Stinson on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, this twist on the standard requires both partners to maintain hand contact for three seconds before release.

3. Low five

To be used when space is limited (e.g. elevator) or when exuberance must be reined in (e.g. board meeting). Keep upper arm close to body and bend elbow at a 90-degree angle with palm parallel to the ceiling.

4. Air five

When a high five is warranted but your intended partner is too far away for proper execution, consider the air five. Follow standard high-five protocol, except without making contact. Can also be conducted over webcam.

5. Left hangin'

If you offer a high five at an inappropriate time (e.g. the end of a first date), your bewildered partner may leave you hanging. To recover from embarrassment, run your outstretched hand through your hair and make a swift exit.

6. Too slow!

A cousin of the "Left hangin'." If you wish to diss an individual who has wronged you, offer up a standard high five, but pull away right before your unsuspecting partner makes contact. Use only when justified.

*And don't do this

Fist bump (unless you work in the Oval Office or have a communicable disease).

The best denied high fives on the Web: