Same Slap, Different Name

Raise your hand and slap your friend’s palm in celebration — congratulations, you just did something that has two completely different names depending on which language you speak. In English, it’s a high five (because you raise your five fingers). In Japanese, it’s a ハイタッチ (hai tacchi) — literally “high touch” (because you touch palms up high).

Neither name is wrong — they just focus on different parts of the same gesture. English counts the fingers. Japanese describes the contact. It’s a perfect example of how two languages can look at the identical action and pick entirely different words for it.

Where Did “High Touch” Come From?

The high five itself became popular in American sports in the late 1970s. When the gesture made its way to Japan, instead of adopting “high five,” Japanese coined ハイタッチ — combining “high” with “touch.” This follows a common wasei-eigo pattern: take English words, rearrange them, and create something that sounds English but isn’t.

Interestingly, if you say “high touch” to an English speaker, they might think of “high-touch” as an adjective meaning personal or hands-on service — the opposite of “high-tech.” They definitely wouldn’t picture two people slapping palms.

Fun Fact

The high five has a surprisingly disputed origin. The most popular story credits baseball player Glenn Burke of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who spontaneously raised his hand to teammate Dusty Baker on October 2, 1977. Whatever its origin, the gesture traveled across the Pacific and got a brand-new Japanese name!