一个人在拉斯维加斯逛百乐宫

What does 老虎机 (lǎohǔjī) mean in Chinese?

老虎机 (lǎohǔjī) is a slot machine: 老虎 (lǎohǔ) is tiger, and 机 (jī) is machine. The name is usually explained by the image of a tiger waiting to take your money: the older, fuller term 吃角子老虎 (chī jiǎozi lǎohǔ), “the coin-eating tiger” (the one-armed bandit), makes the metaphor explicit. A machine that is passive and mechanical has been turned, by language, into a dangerous animal.

The speaker in the clip is wandering Las Vegas solo and notices that every hotel lobby is filled with 老虎机. She admits she doesn’t know the names of most gambling machines but recognises this one: 我可能知道一个，叫老虎机 (“I might know one — it’s called the tiger machine”). The day before she played blackjack and won 22 dollars; she wonders if her luck will hold. The 机 suffix is extremely productive: 洗衣机 (xǐyījī, washing machine), 飞机 (fēijī, airplane), 手机 (shǒujī, mobile phone) — all “machines.” 老虎机 is memorable because 老虎 is anything but mechanical.