fan-tan
See also: fantan
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Cantonese 番攤/番摊 (faan1 taan1, literally “repeated divisions”).
Noun edit
fan-tan (uncountable)
- A Chinese gambling game in which coins or other small objects are placed upon a table, usually under a cup, and the players bet as to what remainder will be left when the sum of the counters is divided by four.
- 1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 85:
- He came in an said Pack, we were booked for Macau. When we got there, I played fantan in the Lisboa and he crossed over into Zhongshan.
- A card game in which the cards are played in sequences upon the table, and the winner is the first player to have no cards left.
Translations edit
Macanese edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Cantonese 番攤/番摊 (faan1 taan1, literally “repeated divisions”); see English entry.
Noun edit
fan-tan
- fan-tan (Chinese card game)
Derived terms edit
- fantanéro (“someone addicted to fan-tan”)