I have seen a story about Wi-Fi passwords that in China some public Wi-Fi will have passwords like "88888888" and say “八个八”. How to translate it into English? google, DeepL, youdao translate to "eight eight" while in reality experience, it will also mean "88"(两个八, two eight) rather than "88888888". Is there any better translation?
2 Answers
八个八 is "eight eights", the second "eights" is plural because there's more than one: "One eight" 8, "two eights" 88, "three eights" 888, ..., "eight eights" 88888888. You use this kind of language when playing card or dice games.
"Eight eight" is not a correct translation, it might be used if you read aloud 0.88 ("zero point eight eight").
Oh, and I've encountered the equivalent of 八个八 when discussing Wi-Fi passwords, so it's genuinely a thing.
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Is eight proper to add s to eights because i check serial main dictionaries and did not find one example in eight has
eights. But it is mainly a English problem, I think. Nov 8, 2022 at 7:36 -
1When used as a noun like this, sure (it'd be incorrect not to pluralize it). People might use it in the game liar's dice. (Also multiplication: "eight eights are sixty-four".)– Becky 李蓓 ♦Nov 8, 2022 at 7:52
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64 is eight times eight, or eight square, here "eight" is not a countable noun.– r13Nov 8, 2022 at 14:05
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1To confirm (I am also native English speaker), it is definitely "eight eights"; think of the second "eight" as referring to the numeral in this case. "eight eights are sixty-four" is also common and would not be considered incorrect (at least in North America), particularly since it is referring to the meaning of multiplication (8x8 = 8+8+8+8+8+8+8+8 = 64). "Two twos", "three twos", "two eights", etc. are also valid and I would say fairly common, especially in card games. Nov 8, 2022 at 16:26
Eight times of/ pieces of eight?
