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This is the sign on Chick fil-A in Chinatown in Washington, DC.

My guess for 可 福 (ke fu) is just that it's approximately phonetic to two sounds in "Chik-Fil-A" and has a pleasant meaning ("can be a blessing(?)").

堡 (bǎo) seems to be a suffix in "hamburger", so refers to "chicken sandwich" somehow? But 達 (dá) in 達 堡?photo

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  • First time to know that 可 is from Chicken and 福 from Fil.
    – PdotWang
    Commented Mar 4 at 16:59

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I searched and the Chinese translated name is 福来鸡/福乐鸡。 I know little about this brand. I guess 達堡可福 is a name translated according to its deep meaning. The phonetic is also a reasonable guess.

The following is my personal guess and is not an accurate official answer.

達 means 到達reach. So the meaning is Reach this burger can gain happiness.

達（到達）Reach 堡（漢堡）this burger 可（可以）can （獲得）gain 幸福happiness.

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  • Thanks this is helpful! :) So, why do you say the Chinese-translated name should be 福来鸡 ? Why "should"? And what thought process do you think goes into them using a different name? So your "should" name looks like ... phonetics for "Fil-A", and then the hanzi for chicken, so "Fu-Lai"(phonetic) Chicken" - that makes sense - just wondering what makes it "should".
    – j03y_
    Commented Jan 7 at 20:00
  • And going with something like "Reach(ing for) this [sandwich] can gain [you] happiness" tells me that the hanzi phrase is not so much an "equivalent" or translation of Chik-fil-A, but more of a "subtitle" or "more artistic and meaningful version" of "Chik-fil-A".
    – j03y_
    Commented Jan 7 at 20:03
  • I used google translate to assist with my answer and included Chinese expression habits. Here I mean 应该, which is a more secure expression. I should modify the content and use "is" directly. Thanks.
    – rinn玲
    Commented Jan 7 at 20:07
  • I guess 達堡可福 may be the store manager's personal behavior. And according to my search, 福来鸡/福乐鸡 is not very commonly used (one reason is that this brand has not entered the Chinese market) ,many people directly use "Chik-fil-A" when mentioning this brand. I don’t know who provided this Chinese translated name. The earliest 福来鸡 I can found was published in a magazine article in 2013.
    – rinn玲
    Commented Jan 7 at 20:27
  • Indeed, Chinese translation does not pursue "equivalence". Because there is a translation rule in Chinese which is "信达雅", which means faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. Express the meaning accurately without sticking to the form of the original text. The translation is smooth and clear, and the language has a certain literary quality. So the Chinese translation is not a complete copy of the original English. (信达雅 is not mandatory to follow) And I believe 達堡可福 is a very creative translation.
    – rinn玲
    Commented Jan 7 at 20:55
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達堡可福 is not a translation or transliteration of Chick-fil-A, it is either a Chinese name for this restaurant or a slogan, Chinese call Chick-fil-A "福来鸡"

  • 達 - arrive

  • 堡 - castle --> 漢堡 hamburger

  • 可 - can

  • 福 - receive a blessing

Chick-fil-A 的公司價值受其創辦人所信仰的美南浸信會影響，所有連鎖餐廳於星期日不營業，感恩節與聖誕節亦同 - This organization is quite religious, it doesn't open on Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas

堡 has the double meaning of "castle" and "hamburger"

福 in 福来鸡 may refer to "God's blessing" (神的祝福) or "gospel" (福音)

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  • Thank you for all the excellent responses - very helpful! :) 谢谢
    – j03y_
    Commented Jan 8 at 1:12

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