Cantonese Dictionary Vol. 123: 10 Cantonese Money Slang Words Every Hong Konger Uses to Talk About Dollars, Deals & Debt

October 23, 2026

Hand holding Hong Kong dollar banknotes against a vibrant city background at night

Ask any Hong Konger about money in Cantonese and they will not use the word 錢 (cin4) half as often as the outsider's textbook promises. The city has its own economy of slang — a vocabulary built on wet markets, mahjong tables, racecourse tips and a hundred years of trading salt, silver and shipping manifests. A bill is a "mosquito." Ten grand is a "skin." Being broke is "the pot explodes." The vocabulary is cheeky and specific, and it is still what you hear every time a Hong Konger counts out a stack of HK$500 notes at the siu mei shop or complains about the rent.

Volume 123 of our dictionary covers 10 Cantonese money words every Hong Konger uses — real words, verified Jyutping, with usage examples you can drop into a conversation at the dim sum table tonight. If you want to wear the slang you learn, we have a whole Cantonese slang collection built around phrases exactly like these — including the 是但 Whatever oversized tee, the attitude every Hong Konger wears to the bill-splitting part of the night.

The 10 Cantonese money words

1. 蚊

man1 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Dollar — the everyday Cantonese measure word for Hong Kong dollars.

Explanation: The character literally means "mosquito," but in modern Cantonese it is the universal counter for currency. "Twenty bucks" is 二十蚊, not 二十元. Hong Kongers only reach for 元 when they are reading a bank statement or signing a contract — in the fish ball queue, every price is in 蚊.

In real life: "呢碗牛腩麵幾多蚊?" ("How many bucks is this bowl of brisket noodles?") "六十蚊。" ("Sixty.")

2. 皮

pei4 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Ten thousand dollars — one unit of HK$10,000.

Explanation: You will hear 皮 at estate agent desks, car dealers and race-course bar counters. 兩皮 is HK$20,000. 五皮嘢 (ng5 pei4 je5) is HK$50,000. It is a trader's word — fast, abbreviated, and the sort of thing a Hong Konger uses to describe rent, down payments or the horse that just ran out of the money.

In real life: "佢個新錶要五皮喎。" ("His new watch cost fifty grand.")

3. 嚿水

gau6 seoi2 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: One thousand dollars — a "lump of water."

Explanation: 嚿 is Cantonese for a lump or a chunk, and 水 (water) is one of the city's oldest nicknames for money. Put them together and you get the thousand-dollar unit. 三嚿水 is HK$3,000. You will also see it written 舊水 — same word, different character choice.

In real life: "份兼職一個月幫到我袋多幾嚿水。" ("The side job puts a few extra grand in my pocket each month.")

4. 水

seoi2 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Money, generically — "water."

Explanation: One of the most productive Cantonese slang words of them all. 冇水 (mou5 seoi2) is "no cash." 磅水 (bong6 seoi2) is "pay up." 疊水 (daap6 seoi2) is a stack of money, which also means "well-off." Water metaphors travel through the city's whole money vocabulary because cash, like water, flows — or does not — and triads nicknamed banknotes 水 so outsiders would not catch on.

In real life: "今個月冇水㗎喎,幫唔到你。" ("No cash this month, I can't help you out.")

5. 荷包

ho4 baau1 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Wallet, purse — literally "lotus bag."

Explanation: Hong Kongers rarely say the formal 錢包 — they say 荷包. It is the fabric pouch grandmothers kept their lai see envelopes in, and the leather one your father slips into his back pocket. 荷包痛 (ho4 baau1 tung3), "wallet pain," is what every parent says when school fees arrive.

In real life: "買完份禮物真係荷包痛。" ("After buying that gift my wallet is in pain.")

Classic Hong Kong cafe interior with a dish and drink on a table in warm ambient light — A traditional Hong Kong cafe interior — Photo via Pexels

6. 慳家

haan1 gaa1 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Thrifty, careful with money (positive).

Explanation: The Cantonese word that praises a person for being good with the household budget. 慳 on its own means "to save." 慳家 is the compliment every Hong Kong auntie wants from her neighbours — it is not shame, it is strategy.

In real life: "我阿媽好慳家,買餸永遠去街市尾等平貨。" ("My mum is really thrifty — she only buys groceries at the end-of-market discount stalls.")

If "thrifty" sits a little too close to lazy days spent in sweatpants, our Hea heavyweight tee is the one for weekends when you refuse to spend a dollar and will not apologise for it. The matching philosophy is on the 求其 Whatevs oversized tee — the Cantonese shrug that lets a tight budget feel like a choice.

7. 孤寒

gu1 hon4 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Stingy, cheap, miserly (negative).

Explanation: The cousin of 慳家 that fell out of favour. If 慳家 is thrifty, 孤寒 is the uncle who skipped his nephew's wedding dinner to save on the lai see. The term dates back to classical Chinese usage meaning poor or isolated, but Cantonese sharpened it into a critique of character.

In real life: "佢真係孤寒,連AA制都要計到個斗零。" ("He is so stingy, he splits the bill down to the last cent.")

8. 大花筒

daai6 faa1 tung4 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: Big spender, the person who torches money like a firework.

Explanation: Literally "big flower tube" — a reference to the firework tubes that shoot off in a single bright flash. Hong Kongers use it to describe friends who go through a paycheck in a weekend, treat the whole table, and never remember what they bought. Half admiration, half warning.

In real life: "你咁大花筒,下個月又要食公仔麵啦。" ("You spend like a firework — next month it's instant noodles again.")

9. 爆煲

baau3 bou1 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: To go bust, blow a budget, lose the money.

Explanation: Literally "the pot explodes." Originally kitchen slang — a clay pot cracking under heat — now the standard Cantonese word for a project, business, relationship or budget that has blown up. A startup that runs out of cash 爆煲. So does an affair the moment the group chat screenshots leak.

In real life: "佢間舖頭做咗三個月就爆煲。" ("His shop went bust after only three months.")

10. 執輸

zap1 syu1 — Jyutping romanisation

Meaning: To lose out, miss a deal, get the short end.

Explanation: The Cantonese emotion that drives half the city's shopping behaviour. 唔好執輸 — "don't miss out" — is why Hong Kongers queue for a Michelin-starred cart noodle shop at 11am, panic-buy toilet paper, and finish promotions ten minutes before midnight. The verb 執 means to pick up; 輸 is to lose. Together: picking up the losing side of a trade.

In real life: "快啲買啦,再等就執輸㗎啦!" ("Buy it now, wait any longer and you'll miss out!")

Traditional Cantonese roast meat stall in Kowloon, Hong Kong, with glazed roast meats hanging in the window — A Cantonese roast meat stall in Kowloon — Photo via Pexels

Why money slang matters

Cantonese is a language built in a port — and port cities are, by nature, places where cash moves fast and vocabulary follows. The slang in this volume is not scholarly or textbook; it is the sound of a trading city overheard in the rush between the morning MTR crowd and the first bowl of congee. You cannot buy a watch at a Mong Kok night market, split a hotpot bill or complain about your Octopus balance without reaching for at least two of these ten words.

If this is your first dictionary volume with us, start with Vol. 122 on Cantonese workplace slang — the office vocabulary that pairs with these money words from Monday to Friday — and the companion piece on Vol. 116 on being burnt out for the Friday night that follows. For wearable attitude, the 準時收工 Clock Out On Time tee is the one you grab on payday — the Cantonese philosophy of leaving work exactly when the water turns off, before the pot explodes.