I always wondered why people loudly hit their hands together to show their approval of something.  Why don’t we “armpit fart” or snort or just babble some gibberish when we are pleased? The act of clapping has been used as a sign of approval for basically all of recorded human history.  There were even professional clappers.  In France, for instance, a claque was a group of professional clappers (claquers).  They would go to French plays, operas, and concerts by the request of the director to make the performance seem like a bigger hit.  It was an old school laugh-track.  But claques weren’t always so jubilant.  They would also cement themselves as a form of extortion by threatening to boo a performance unless they were paid a handsome fee.  A claque seems like the most pompous, unintimidating organized crime ring ever.