pak pai
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Cantonese 白牌車/白牌车 (baak6 paai4-2 ce1), literally ‘white numberplate’.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
pak pai (plural pak pai or pak pais)
- (now historical) A car used as an illegal taxi in Hong Kong. [from 20th c.]
- 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 471:
- He took pak-pais, knowing they were less under the thumb of the police.