八達通 / 八达通
baat³ daat⁶ tung¹
The English phrase "octopus card" is 八達通 / 八达通 (baat³ daat⁶ tung¹) in Cantonese.
The 八達通 / 八达通 is used for almost all public transport in Hong Kong, including the MTR, buses, ferries and minibuses, as well as for many retail payments.
Meaning: contactless smart card used in Hong Kong (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
baat³ daat⁶ tung¹
Did you know?
- While the card is called 'octopus' in English, the Cantonese characters 八達通 do not actually contain the word for the animal 'octopus', which is 八爪魚.
- The choice of 'octopus' as the English name is a play on the phrase 八達通, as the character 八 means 'eight' and an octopus has eight tentacles.
- The name 八達通 literally translates to 'eight directions pass', where 'eight directions' refers to the concept of everywhere or all directions.
Example sentences for Cantonese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “octopus card” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
