Back in 2004, this guy I know used to wait for a girl to walk by him, and when they got close enough he would turn his hand into a claw shape, make a dinosaur face, say "RAWR", and reach his disgusting claw towards them in a grabbing motion.
Surprisingly, his goal was not to scare the women away, but this was his way of wooing them. Yeah, I didn't really get it either.
This claw hand technique was not just used to attract women of the opposite sex, but also became a crucial action in this guy's photobombing efforts. He would sneak up behind the unsuspecting group, make the dino-face and the claw, and ruin people's memories.
He did this over and over. Every girl. Every photo. Claw & Rawr. Eventually it became so prevalent it needed it's own name.
The COOL CLAW was born and people all over the DC area started doing it. This was meming before memes. With no Twitter or Reddit, the only way to pass along the meme was in person (or on like AOL Instant Messenger). At one point there was even a website about it, but I think it died when Geocities did.
Luckily for all the girls in the Washington DC area and for photographers around the world, the Cool Claw fad got old quickly. It disappeared and almost vanished from my memory.
But then...I see Bryce Harper bringing it back. Are you serious!
In this case it appeared that Bryce was hissing like a cat (video). And doing more of a cat call. But dinosaur claw or cat claw, either way, I know the Cool Claw when I see it, and baby that was it!
So next time you are photobombing, be classy like Bryce Harper. Throw up the cool claw, and RAWR!
