The term "char kway teow" is a transliteration of the Chinese characters 炒粿條, pronounced chhá-kóe-tiâu in Min Nan (also known as Hokkien). The word kóe-tiâu (literally meaning "ricecake strips") generally refers to flat rice noodles, which are the usual ingredient in West Malaysia and Singapore. In East Malaysia, on the other hand, actual sliced ricecake strips are used to make this dish.
In popular transliterations, there is no fixed way of spelling chhá-kóe-tiâu, and many variants can be found: e.g., "char kueh teow", "char kueh tiao", etc.
Owing to the dish's popularity and spread to Cantonese-speaking areas, the term "char kway teow" has been corrupted into "炒貴刁" in Cantonese. This is pronounced as caau gwai diu in Cantonese and cháo guìdiāo in Mandarin. The term "貴刁" has no real meaning, but its pronunciation in Cantonese and Mandarin is similar to "粿條" in Min Nan.
In Hong Kong, "char kway teow" is often known as "Singaporean char kway teow" (星州炒貴刁) or "Penang char kway teow" (炒粿條), indicating the dish's origins.
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