The way of greeting someone comes in different forms. Kissing and hugging are normal in some European and Arab countries. Maoris in New Zealand greet each other by rubbing against their noses. However, the most common physical way of greeting people nowadays is handshake. It has become so ubiquitous that you may never have thought about its origins. It's like a part of human nature.
The modern handshake as a form of greeting is hard to trace. The Quakers are traditionally seen as originators. But as Dutch sociologist Herman Roodenburg——the chief authority for the history of handshaking一wrote in his publication A Cultural History of Gesture, "More than in any other field, the study of gesture is one in which the historian has to make the most of only a few clues. " Another well-known evidence of the early tradition of shaking hands took place in the early 17th century. A Scotsman living in England, named James Cleland, suggested that the practice of the u good old Scottish shaking of the two right hands" should be observed, instead of things like bowing down to everyone's shoes and kissing hands.
If you ask why shaking hands is the most preferred way of greeting over other gestures, the most well-known explanation is that handshaking prevents the right hand from holding a weapon. In the 19th century it was argued that shaking hands without removing gloves was quite rude and required an immediate apology.
Shaking hands seems like a gesture that has been around forever. However, in 1880's France, a society had been formed to abolish the handshake as a ''vulgar" English novelty. And now in the US that gesture may fall away in favor of the fist hump. While the fist bump is a cooler way to greet someone, the reason may have been more practical. According to survey participants, they did not want to shake hands because they were afraid of catching and spreading bacteria.
