This is loosely based on a Japanese article from the CJ Column.
https://citrusjapan.co.jp/column/cj-column/w011_202004.html
In Japan these days, you often see the number 567 in the news because it can be pronounced to sound like “corona”. Many stores also sell goods for 567 yen to attract customers.
Numbers have long been used in Japanese advertising to express words. They were also commonly used by Japanese on electronic pagers in the days when pagers were popular.
For example, 4649 means “regards”(yoroshiku), 0840 means “good morning” (ohayou) and 0833 means “good night” (oyasumi). As a foreigner, I think this is interesting.
People use numbers this way in China as well. So let’s try!
The number 520, for example, means “I love you” in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. People often combine it with the number 1314, which means “a lifetime”.
In Cantonese, 8 means “get rich” and is often used in celebrations. 18 means “become rich”, 28 means “likely to be rich” and 168 means “has always been rich”.
9413 means “nine die, one lives” in Cantonese and is often used in Hong Kong movies.
88 means “bye bye” in Chinese and Cantonese and may be the most commonly used word-matching number on the net. Some people use 886, which means “bye bye end”.
There are many other examples as well and if you study Chinese, you’ll start figuring them out yourself!
