kau4球
Jyutpingkau4
Yalekàuh
Definition
One million dollars, or a scoop of ice cream.
- slangone million dollars
- a scoop of ice cream
colloquialmoney
How it's used
Using this term to mean money is a classic example of Hong Kong financial slang. It functions as a classifier for money, where one unit equals one million Hong Kong dollars. You will hear it frequently in discussions about property prices, stock investments, or high-end salaries.
Examples
He sold his apartment for a whole two million dollars.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the literal meaning of a ball or sphere. When used for money, it is almost always followed by 嘢 to emphasize the amount or simply used as a noun for the currency value itself.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
