The handshake was a popular physical greeting on Earth between Humans. The custom began in Europe as a way to show that both parties had no weapons in their dominant hand.

Starfleet Academy asked that officers not shake hands with other species. The handshake was an obscene gesture on at least five planets, and a declaration of war on another. (TOS novel: The Rift)

In 2367 Captain Jean-Luc Picard had to refrain from trying to shake hands with the Tarn observer Harna Karish. The ritual of shaking hands is seen as an aggressive move by a Tarn too close to a foe. Instead the Tarn uses the Harma greeting. (TNG novel: The Forgotten War)

ConnectionsEdit

• Handshake article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.