the.com/applause
thousands of strangers hitting each other's hands to make a noise that means love
means the sound of many people clapping their hands together to show approval, appreciation, or delight.
from From Latin applaudere, 'to clap the hands together' — formed from ad- ('to, toward') and plaudere ('to clap, to strike'). That same plaudere gave us 'plaudit' and 'explode' (which once meant to drive an actor offstage with hostile clapping and hissing). So applause and booing were born from the same noisy Roman root.
- contagion
- Spreads like a virus; one clapper triggers the rest
- roman gigs
- Emperor Nero hired 5,000 soldiers to applaud him
- duration
- Standing ovations average around eight seconds of nerve
- deaf version
- Hands raised and twisted, called silent applause
- origin word
- From Latin applaudere, to strike toward
for instance
wimbledon centre court crowd — erupts for every baseline winner during matches since 1877