Commonly found variants; note these may range from acceptable alternatives to
non-standard forms or incorrect spellings*.
* Singlish is a largely spoken creole, and as such descriptivism (recording forms that reflect actual pronunciation in spoken language, or as appearing in the linguistic corpus) is more pertinent than strict prescriptivism. Nevertheless, the use of more standard forms (or for words originating in languages with Latin script, such as Malay, accurate to the original spelling) is recommended and encouraged.
* Singlish is a largely spoken creole, and as such descriptivism (recording forms that reflect actual pronunciation in spoken language, or as appearing in the linguistic corpus) is more pertinent than strict prescriptivism. Nevertheless, the use of more standard forms (or for words originating in languages with Latin script, such as Malay, accurate to the original spelling) is recommended and encouraged.
also can:
daidi tai ti taiti
dai di
简
繁
→
Cantonese:
锄大弟
鋤大弟
jyutping:
co4 daai6 di2
Detailed etymology
definitions
noun
- a card game extremely popular in East Asia, played using a standard 52-card deck. In Singapore, the game typically may be played between 2-5 players, but the optimal number is four. The objective of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of one's cards, by depositing sequences of poker-like hands (such as ones, twos, five-card combinations, etc.) of increasing value in turn.
The suits are ranked with Diamonds being the lowest, followed by Clubs, Hearts, then Spades. Within each suit, 2 is the highest card (hence the name of the game in English, "Big Two"), followed by the ace, then the cards in usual order. However, the ace and 2 may play the roles of the values 1 and 2 in certain situations, such as in a straight.
To start, each player is dealt a hand made by dealing all the cards until the remainder is no longer divisible by the number of players. If there are any leftover cards, the players with the lowest-ranked cards (3 of diamonds, then 3 of clubs, etc.) take a corresponding card from the remainder, to give them an advantage in forming combinations.
The player with the 3 of diamonds goes first, discarding the three of diamonds in some combination of 1, 2, or 5 cards. All players then have to make a play of higher value by discarding the same number of cards as the round started with in turn (with some rare exceptions, such as when a player has a "dragon" straight), or skip their turn if they are unable or unwilling to do so. Once play has gone a full round without anyone matching a player's play, they win that round and get to start a new round with any combination they please. The game may end when one player has discarded all their cards, or keep going until there is one loser left.
While the game is popular throughout East and South-East Asia and within the diasporas of these regions, it originated somewhere in China, likely in Hong Kong.