Aka "tentative/trepidatious tap". Refers to the hasty and teeth-gritting "getting it over with" hand-slap that you give a metal door-handle prior to grasping it, to swiftly ground yourself and thus lessen the nasty wallop of a static-electricity shock that you'd otherwise get if you merely reached out timidly for the door-handle and caused a huge white spark to jump from "A" to "B".
I always perform the wary whack while running my errands around town during the dry winter months; the only problem is that my hand gets kinda numb and bruised after a while from all of that harsh pinging against the cold hard metal door-knobs and handles on the front doors of the assorted places of business that I have to go around to.
by QuacksO February 9, 2019