Onomatopoeic, from the sound made when a person runs while wearing daps.
Meanings
(Wales, West-Country, plural-normally, qualifier:Somerset; Bristol; Somerset; Bristol) A plimsoll.
I somehow expected them to shout obscenities, and was glad I had come ordinarily dressed, in a sports shirt, an old linen jacket, jeans and daps. 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 169:
US 1971, originally by black soldiers during the Vietnam war, associated with Black Power movement. Originally an elaborate handshake, later specifically a fistbump.
Verb originally give dap. Presumably onomatopoeic, or influenced by tap, dab, etc. Alternatively, from earlier slang usage as abbreviation of dapper. Also explained as an acronym, such as “Dignity for Afro People” or “Dignity And Pride”; this may be a backronym or unrelated, but accords with phrasal use as “give DAP” (compare “give respect”). More speculative etymologies derive it from Vietnamese đẹp (“beautiful”), though this is unlikely.
Meanings
(qualifier:originally) Elaborate handshake, especially hooking thumbs.
... where many officers look the other way when blacks ‘give dap’ (the power shake) ... 1971, London Magazine, volume 11, page 33:
These bloods just give dap just so they won't be called Uncle Toms. 1972, Sepia, volume 21, page 80:
US 1971, originally by black soldiers during the Vietnam war, associated with Black Power movement. Originally an elaborate handshake, later specifically a fistbump.
Verb originally give dap. Presumably onomatopoeic, or influenced by tap, dab, etc. Alternatively, from earlier slang usage as abbreviation of dapper. Also explained as an acronym, such as “Dignity for Afro People” or “Dignity And Pride”; this may be a backronym or unrelated, but accords with phrasal use as “give DAP” (compare “give respect”). More speculative etymologies derive it from Vietnamese đẹp (“beautiful”), though this is unlikely.