can

en-verb

can (third-person singular simple present can, present participle (by suppletion) able, simple past could, past participle (obsolete except in adjectival use) couth)

can (present singular third-person)
able (participle present suppletive)
could (past)
couth (obsolete participle past)
can (first-person present singular)
could (first-person past singular)
coulde (archaic first-person past singular)
can (present second-person singular)
canst (archaic present second-person singular)
canest (archaic present second-person singular)
cannest (archaic present second-person singular)
could (past second-person singular)
couldst (archaic past second-person singular)
couldest (archaic past second-person singular)
could'st (archaic past second-person singular)
can (present singular third-person)
canneth (present singular third-person)
could (past singular third-person)
coulde (archaic past singular third-person)
can (plural present)
could (past plural)
coulde (archaic past plural)
can (present subjunctive)
could (past subjunctive)
coulde (archaic past subjunctive)
can (archaic imperative present)
canning (archaic participle present)
could (dialectal participle past)
coulde (archaic participle past)
canne (alternative obsolete)
kin (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

From Middle English can, first and third person singular of connen, cunnen (“to be able, know how”), from Old English can(n), first and third person singular of cunnan (“to know how”), from Proto-West Germanic *kunnan, from Proto-Germanic *kunnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (whence also know). Doublet of con. See also: canny, cunning.

the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must

Can anot?

(Manglish, Singlish, auxiliary or intransitive) To be able to or know how to (do something); an accompanying verb is not required if it is already inferable from context.

Can liao, don’t need to use so much glue.

We have been doing this for 50 years, we have shown you what we can do. If I say can, means can. […]

2015 September 5, Derrick Ho, Chew Hui Min, Lee Min Kok, Shea Driscoll, Nilanjana Sengupta, Melissa Heng, Ong Hwee Hwee, quoting Lee Hsien Loong, “GE2015: 5 things about the third night of rallies on Sept 4”, in The Straits Times:

It’s further exacerbated by well-intentioned but misguided relatives who say, “you’re from School X, can one lah”, or worse, those who associate the very identity of being a student in an elite academy into a label analogous with expectations of high achievements.

2021 August 5, Zat Astha, “The Lessons We’re Still Learning Too Slowly About Mental Health and Suicide”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-12-11:

When controversial KOL Sylvia Chan resurfaced in March as a life coach, the general online sentiment was, “Huh, can meh?”

2024 June 10, Kimberly Lim, “What’s With Singapore’s Surge in Self-Proclaimed Life Coaches?”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-09-19:

(Manglish, Singlish, intransitive) To be fine or acceptable; to be possible; (with liao or already) to be enough. Often used in conjunction with a variety of clause-final particles, e.g., lah, meh or one, to express different attitudes towards the subject matter.


can

canne (alternative obsolete)
kin (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

(Manglish, Singlish) OK, sure; indicates approval or acknowledgment.

(Manglish, Singlish, with falling or rising-falling pitch) Used to convey reassurance.


can

I cut this wire, can?

Can you go collect them or not? The shop is at Jalan Sultan. I’m not free, otherwise I’ll do it myself. Can?

1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 1–3:

It feels like a cheap gimmick to attract environmentalist types, when I don’t see any concrete policies to address that. If you don’t care, then don’t pretend to care leh. If you care, then make sure you got details to back you up, can?

2020 June 29, Poh Yong Han, “A Regular Singaporean’s Guide To Each Party’s Vision For The Economy”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-05-23:

(Manglish, Singlish, interrogative) OK?; used at the end of a question when seeking approval or acknowledgment.


one

Analogous to several senses of Hokkien 個／个 (ê) and Mandarin 的 (de, declarative particle, nominalizer, etc.). This semantic loan might have stemmed from the apparent similarity between one as a prop-word and 的/-ê as a nominalizer (e.g. 青色的 (“the green one”)). Compare Cantonese 嘅 (ge³).

sl

wone (alternative obsolete)
I (alternative)

relative pronoun
relative pronoun#English

(Singlish, rare) Used as a relative pronoun at the end of a relative clause.


know

Make sure you water the plants, know…

I was a naval diver know!

(Singlish) Used at the end of a sentence to draw attention to information the speaker thinks the listener should keep in mind.


black

en-adj

black (comparative blacker or more black, superlative blackest or most black)

blacker (comparative)
more black (comparative)
blackest (superlative)
most black (superlative)
blacke (alternative obsolete)
Black (alternative)
blk (alternative)
blak (alternative)

Bislama: blak

Sranan Tongo: blaka

Aukan: baaka

→ Caribbean Hindustani: blaaka

Tok Pisin: blak

Torres Strait Creole: blaik

→ Dutch: black

→ French: black

→ Greek: μπλάκης (blákis)

From Middle English blak, black, blake, from Old English blæc (“black, dark", also "ink”), from Proto-West Germanic *blak, from Proto-Germanic *blakaz (“burnt”) (compare Dutch blaken (“to burn”), Low German blak, black (“blackness, black paint, (black) ink”), Old High German blah (“black”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleg- (“to burn, shine”) (compare Latin flagrāre (“to burn”), Ancient Greek φλόξ (phlóx, “flame”), Sanskrit भर्ग (bharga, “radiance”)).
Sense 20 is a semantic loan from Cantonese 黑面 (hak1 min6, “to pull a long face, to scowl”).

sort

of coffee or tea, without milk or other whitener

They gave up trying to talk to me. Ever since I gave them that big scolding. But every time they see me, all face black black.

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene x, page 46:

(Singapore, Singlish, of someone's face) Sullen and solemn; bad-tempered and unhappy.


what

From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”).
Cognate with Scots what, whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”).

it doesn't matter what they say about you as long as they spell your name right

never put off until tomorrow what you can do today

the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

what does that have to do with the price of corn

what does that have to do with the price of fish

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China

what happens on the road stays on the road

what you gain on the swings you lose on the roundabouts

what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts

who are you and what have you done with someone

you never know what you've got till it's gone

Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩]

— Sian sia, nearby here don’t have library.
— The National Library is a five-minute walk from here what, no meh?

Most things come from Europe what.

1978, L. C. Cheong, Youth in the Army, page 142:

Susan: Jalan Sultan, ah? Quite far from Jurong, you know. I may not be able to get there on time.
Jackson: […] I’ll tell Beng Huat to wait for you, lah. It’s not that far, what.

1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 8, lines 5–9:

[…] they can't be the same what?

2007, yansimon52, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

I told him to go to Woodlands to buy durian for me. He came back and said no durian. But he some more said-ah, he got see people selling durian in Bukit Timah. I ask him-ah. Why you never buy from Bukit Timah. On your way what.

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 85‒86:

boon: […] You want to go see snow or not, Ma?
mother: See for what? I open freezer can see already what.
boon: Not the same, lah… Imagine snowflakes drifting down, melting when they touch your skin. […]

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii, page 21:

Aiyah, we will always chat or message what... We’ll keep in touch lah, hor?

2024, Jojo Chia, Afternoon Yuan Yang Club, Epigram Books, →ISBN:

(Manglish, Singlish) Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener.

If it doesn’t get sunlight, it won’t grow what, so you should consider moving it closer to the window.

[…] like Joel you can just melee what. Melee your way through if you can’t handle them […]

2018, Weimin Toh, quoting Nasir, A Multimodal Approach to Video Games and the Player Experience, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 2016:

(Manglish, Singlish) Used to invite agreement or acknowledgment when something is assumed to be straightforward or already obvious to begin with; similar in function to “right?” and “as you know”.


ba

I think you should go see a doctor ba.

(Manglish, Singlish) Used to soften the tone of a suggestion.

rich pple in here... 15" Conti for 800? thats a little steep... same class as ps4s? / 18" tires about 600 to 750 bah...

2024 June 7, Vegas, “Planning to get new Rims & Tyres”, in MyCarForum, archived from the original on 2024-06-21:

(Manglish, Singlish) Indicates confident speculation.


sekali

Semantic shift from Malay sekali (“once”).

[…] the instruction all says to deep fry them, so dared not buy - sekali raw dough, how to eat?

2004, Bug [pseudonym], soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

[…] make sure he’s activated the right ringtone, sekali you, ahem, raise the wrong hopes.

2004 January 2, Colin Goh, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page L12:

(Singlish) What if, lest (something problematic or unanticipated happens)

(Singlish, at the beginning of a clause) Suddenly and unexpectedly.


got

Analogous to Chinese 有, such as Hokkien 有 (ū), Cantonese 有 (jau⁵), Mandarin 有 (yǒu). Sense 1 is also comparable to Malay ada.

Got problem is it?

Got ants over here.

“Got lighter or not?”

1999, Alfian Sa'at, Corridor, Singapore: SNP Editions, →OCLC, page 122:

She sure got a lot of costume change, make-up, wig long long…

2010, Haresh Sharma, Those Who Can't, Teach, Epigram Books, Act II, scene iv:

(Singlish, Manglish) Have; there is (indicates possession or existence).

You got shower?

I got ski.

I got ski before.

You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

(Singlish, auxiliary) Marks the completive or experiential aspect.

I got go Taiwan next year.

I’m already/actually going to Taiwan next year.

(Singlish, auxiliary) Used as a marker of realis modality.

I got tell them just now.

(Singlish, auxiliary) Used to emphasize that an action has been done.

I got cook meals for them.

I cook meals for them; I would cook meals for them (now and then or regularly).

You got play badminton?

(Singlish, auxiliary) Marks the habitual aspect in the present or past tense.


sot

head

sot (comparative more sot, superlative most sot, reduplicated sot sot)

more sot (comparative)
most sot (superlative)
sot sot (reduplication)

From Cantonese short (sot¹, “crazy”), itself a clipping of English short circuit.

all swe [software engineers] recently sot sot one. spent the last 3 years chasing too much headline salaries but now tech winter so all scared and frustrated . frustrations boiling over

2024 April 3, Unregistered, “Shopee fresh grad pay”, in Salary.sg Forums:

(Singlish, Manglish) Insane, crazy, screwed up.


sot

my stock horn sot sot liao

2009 May 29, anric79, “[Group] YAMAHA Fazer”, in singaporebikes.com:

(Singlish, Manglish, intransitive) To short circuit, to go haywire or malfunction.

All these delusional ACN graduates. Must be OT so much until brain sot liao

2021 July 13, Unregistered, “Roles in accenture singapore”, in Salary.sg Forums:

(Singlish, Manglish, intransitive) To go crazy.


stone

en-verb

stone (third-person singular simple present stones, present participle stoning, simple past and past participle stoned)

stones (present singular third-person)
stoning (participle present)
stoned (participle past)
stoned (past)

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).
See also West Frisian stien, Saterland Frisian Steen, Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते (styāyate, “it hardens”)). Doublet of stein.

cog

I was stoning the whole of today.

2003, Roger, Joy, Vera and Amanda Loh, Facts about Singapore: Differences between Ohio and Singapore:

Resume writing class lesson 2, stoning.

2011 November 2, Shermaine Ong, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

The Marina Barrage is a reservoir, but everyone goes there because the spacious greenery at the top is the perfect place for stoning, which is Singlish for hanging out and chilling.

2015 April 8, Becky Osawa, Trekking with Becky: Stoning at the Marina Barrage, Singapore:

(intransitive, Singapore, slang) To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.


bo

Swee bo?

(Singlish, interrogative) Final interrogative particle, used to invite agreement.

(Singlish, interrogative) Final interrogative particle, forming a yes-no question from a declarative statement.


help

en-verb

help (third-person singular simple present helps, present participle helping, simple past helped or (archaic) holp, past participle helped or (archaic) holpen)

helps (present singular third-person)
helping (participle present)
helped (past)
holp (archaic past)
helped (participle past)
holpen (archaic participle past)
help (infinitive)
help (first-person present singular)
helped (first-person past singular)
holp (archaic first-person past singular)
help (present second-person singular)
helpest (archaic present second-person singular)
helped (past second-person singular)
helpedst (archaic past second-person singular)
holp (archaic past second-person singular)
helps (present singular third-person)
helpeth (archaic present singular third-person)
helped (past singular third-person)
holp (archaic past singular third-person)
help (plural present)
helped (past plural)
holp (archaic past plural)
help (present subjunctive)
helped (past subjunctive)
holp (archaic past subjunctive)
help (imperative present)
helping (participle present)
helped (participle past)
holpen (archaic participle past)

From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan (“to help, aid, assist, benefit, relieve, cure”), from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, Proto-Germanic *helpaną (“to help”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”).
Cognate with West Frisian helpe (“to help”), Dutch helpen (“to help”), Low German helpen, hölpen (“to help”), German helfen (“to help”), Danish hjælpe (“to help”), Norwegian hjelpe (“to help”), Lithuanian šelpti (“to help, support”).

inh

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, dated

a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

Compare Malay tolong (“help; please”) and Hokkien 導郎 /导郎 (tō͘-lông, “help; please”)

Help lah.

(Singapore, Singlish, imperative) To assist or sympathize with (the speaker); used to express displeasure, disappointment or exasperation.


ah

[äː˨˦ ~ ʌ̈ː˨˦]

From Hokkien 啊 (--a), Teochew 啊 (a⁷), Mandarin 啊 (a); Tamil -ஆ (-ā, sense 1).

You’re dyslexic ah?

So how are you Jackson? Very busy, ah? Never come around to see me these days.

1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 3, lines 49–50:

Cannot talk-ah? God give you mouth for what? No courtesy-ah? Kanneena!

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 80:

Only 2 ft apart considered safe ah?

2020 December 4, Notdumb, “Liddat is safe distance ah?”, in SG Talk, archived from the original on 2020-04-18:

Marks a tag question prompting the listener to clarify or confirm something.

The drilling upstairs ah, non-stop leh.

These fish, ah, anything also eat one.

2014, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Singapore Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 89:

A filler word separating the topic of a sentence and its comment.

A filler word used to ascertain the continued attention of the listener.

Hello? Joey ah?

Susie ah, Emily here ah. This afternoon I'm going to town, anything that you're needing?

1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 3:

A vocative particle, now mostly used by Chinese elders for direct address (over telephone calls, or if the addressee is far away).


tank

en-verb

tank (third-person singular simple present tanks, present participle tanking, simple past and past participle tanked)

tanks (present singular third-person)
tanking (participle present)
tanked (participle past)
tanked (past)

From Portuguese tanque (“tank, liquid container”), from an Indo-Aryan language such as Gujarati ટાંકી (ṭā̃kī, “cistern”) or Marathi टांकी (ṭāṅkī). Compare the Arabic verb اِسْتَنْقَعَ (istanqaʕa, “to become stagnant, to stagnate”).
In the sense of armoured vehicle, first attested in 1915, prototypes were described as tanks for carrying water to disguise their nature as well as due to physical resemblance.

der

(Singapore, colloquial) To stand; to tolerate.


hah

Mother: Just wait awhile, Susan. Jack said he’d be a little late. […] What would you like to drink, some Coca Cola?
Susan: That’s alright Aunty. We’re going out to dinner.
Mother: Or you prefer Pepsi, hah? We don’t drink Pepsi ourself, I always keep a few bottles just in case. Some people are so fussy.

1989, Eleanor Wong, Jackson on a Jaunt, or, Mistaken Identities, page 5, lines 23–31:

(Manglish, Singlish) Synonym of ah (Sense 1); used to form tag questions prompting the listener to confirm something.

ah

(Manglish, Singlish) Tagged at the end of a sentence to express subtle surprise or realisation.


hah

(Manglish, Singlish) Huh!; used to express subtle surprise or amusement at something said by another speaker.


never

From Middle English nevere, navere, nævere, from Old English nǣfre (“never”), equivalent to ne + ever.

neuer (alternative obsolete)
ne'er (alternative)
neva (alternative)
nev'r (alternative)
nevah (alternative)
nevuh (alternative)

I told him to go to Woodlands to buy durian for me. He came back and said no durian. But he some more said-ah, he got see people selling durian in Bukit Timah. I ask him-ah. Why you never buy from Bukit Timah.

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 85:

That's what he said. But I never see anything. Maybe it's an invisible dog. Or very good at hiding.

2018, Jean Tay, Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Scene 12, page 73:

(Manglish, Singlish, auxiliary) Did not; didn't.


kana

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative form of kena.


ar

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of ah (question particle).


nah

Nah, take this.

(Manglish, Singlish) here! (when giving something).


la

(Singlish, Manglish) Alternative form of lah.


arrow

en-verb

arrow (third-person singular simple present arrows, present participle arrowing, simple past and past participle arrowed)

arrows (present singular third-person)
arrowing (participle present)
arrowed (participle past)
arrowed (past)

From Middle English arwe, from Old English earh (oblique form ēarw-), from Proto-West Germanic *arhu, from Proto-Germanic *arhwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂érkʷo- (“bow, arrow”). Cognate with Faroese ørv (“arrow”), Icelandic ör (“arrow”), örvar (“arrows”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌽𐌰 (arƕazna, “dart”), Latin arcus (“bow”).

der

Just because I never come for meeting … my boss arrow me to do this job.

2011, Susan Tsang, Audrey Perera, Singapore at Random, →ISBN, page 36:

no clue why jingjing kena arrow by auntie to stay near.

2016, Mark Z. Danielewski, The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain, →ISBN, page 440:

(Singapore, Singlish, transitive, originally military slang) To single out or nominate (someone) to be responsible for something, especially an undesirable task.


lah

From Malay lah, Cantonese 啦 (laa1) and Hokkien 啦 (--la). Doublet of la.

Pitch contour: low-mid [lɑ(ː)˨]

No fun lah, you.

“Who lah that Panjali? A real ‘number nine’ [From Tamil ஒன்பது (oṉpatu), a derogatory term for a transgender person].”
“You don’t play a fool you know. He is not a ‘number nine’, not a hermaphrodite, but a man. He is the one who has been cross-dressing and performing the role of Panjali for many years.”

2014, Latha [K. Kanagalatha], The Goddesses in the Living Room, Singapore: Epigram Books, →ISBN, page 102:

topic–comment structure
w:Topic and comment

(chiefly Malaysia, less common in Singapore) A separator, used to reverse the order of the usual topic–comment structure of a sentence.


already

→ Gulf Arabic: أوردي (orridi)

From Middle English alredy (“fully; already”), equivalent to al- (“all, completely”) + ready. Cognate with West Frisian alreeds (“already”), Dutch alreeds (“already”), Afrikaans alreeds (“already”), Middle Low German alreide, alreids ("already"; whence modern German Low German alreeds (“already”)), Danish allerede (“already”), Swedish allaredan (“already”), Norwegian Nynorsk allereie (“already”). More at all, ready.
The use as an intensifier in American English is a semantic loan from German schon and Yiddish שוין (shoyn).
In Singapore English, the use of already as a marker of action completion and change of state is analogous to Hokkien 了 (liáu), Teochew 了 (liao²) and Mandarin 了 (le). Compare Malay (su)dah and Cantonese 咗 (zo²), 喇 (laa³).

gl

"already"; whence modern German Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="nds-de">alreeds</i> (“already”)

You frame the picture for me already anot?

“Yah, I sign already,” my mother replied.

1999, Alfian Sa'at, Corridor, Singapore: SNP Editions, →OCLC, page 136:

(Singapore, Singlish) Indicates action completion (perfective aspect).

I don’t think he can take it already.

Your ice cream is melting already.

Overcook already, need to redo.

We’ve overcooked it, we need to redo it.

Your grandmother angry already.

Cannot wait already, buay tahan already. I hope she doesn’t complain to anyone.

2006, Elangovan, Smegma, →ISBN, page 39:

Okay lah, okay lah. Maybe I senile already. Like this house.

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

(Singapore, Singlish) Marks a change in state (inchoative aspect).


gila

You gila (mad) or what? Our government good government okay?

2006, Elangovan, Smegma, →ISBN, page 31:


kaki

From Malay kaki (“legs, feet, accomplices”). Unrelated to Hokkien and Teochew 家己人 (ka-kī-lâng / ga¹ gi⁷ nang⁵, “one of us”).

ncog

My usual mahjong kaki.

2000, Dennis Wee, Sylvia Fong, Making Luck with Your Hands, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore, page 59:

He has his posse of stylist-kakis.

2000 July 2, Yeow Kai Chai, The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, page 5:

That’s why gang members always move as a group, because when your group is big … when your enemy sees you with many kakis [peers], they will also think want to attack you or not […]

2023, Narayanan Ganapathy, quoting an Omega gang member, Gangs and Minorities in Singapore: Masculinity, Marginalization and Resistance, Bristol University Press, →ISBN, page 127:

(Singlish) A close friend, or group of friends with a shared common interest.


lagi

Lagi worse.


anyhow

(Singapore, Singlish, by extension) Thoughtlessly, randomly and without careful consideration.


anyhow

Rabak, to refer to something messed up: Eh bro, your hairdresser anyhow sia, your hair damn rabak.

2022 January 25, Jean Wong, Cassandra Nerva, Jerald Ang, “34 Singlish Phrases to Know Before Visiting Singapore”, in tripzilla.com, archived from the original on 2024-09-30:

Even the newspaper recommendation oso anyhow one.

2024 December 13, gwbasic, “Is it all the food influencers cannot make it?”, in HardwareZone Forums:

(Singapore, Singlish, predicative) Random, careless, offhand, disorderly; done without thought or consideration.


ever

→ German: ever

From Middle English ever, from Old English ǣfre, originally a phrase whose first element undoubtedly consists of Old English ā (“ever, always”) + in (“in”) + an element possibly from feorh (“life, existence”) (dative fēore). Compare Old English ā tō fēore (“ever in life”), Old English feorhlīf (“life”).
Sense 5 of the adverb was likely formed by association with never, which also carries the meaning of did not in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English. Also, compare Chinese 有 … 過 /有 … 过 (yǒu ... guò / jau⁵ ... gwo³, “has […] before”).

sl

euer (alternative obsolete)
e'er (alternative poetic)
ev'r (alternative poetic)
eva (alternative dialectal)
evah (alternative dialectal)
eva' (alternative dialectal)
evuh (alternative dialectal)
iver (alternative dialectal)
ivver (alternative dialectal)

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people

nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people

but i ever ran 5mins using the 1400 cells and the type RR 23T motor...

2005 January 10, hellangel, “Tamiya Asiacup Qualifying 2005 (singapore)”, in rctech.net:

i ever walked from the south to MacRitchie Reservoir.....

2021 July 13, Lchlch, “What are your hobbies in sg?”, in HardwareZone Forums:

(Manglish, Singlish) Indicates experiential aspect, once; has or have (done something) before.


sai

[…]the employer of the unfortunate maid that was forced to makan sai are indonesians.

1998 February 10, Thye Hoon Lin, “SM Lee was right - Johor is notorious for muggings!”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

It is Chek Lap Kok ho lang. You should makan sai. Are you an Orang Laut trying to speak Chinese?

1998 July 9, SimiSar, “[sangkancil] New HK airport faces barrage of criticism (fwd)”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

go and take your morning shower and wash your arse with water and soap after pang sai

2003 April 18, Bone Toad, “Christ won”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, vulgar) Shit


lo

Borrowed from Hokkien 囉 /啰 (--lo͘). Doublet of lor.

(Singlish, Manglish, rare or in set phrases) Sentence-final particle denoting finality or completion.


dei

(Singlish, Manglish) Alternative spelling of dey (“informal term of address used when trying to get someone's attention.”).


kiasu

Borrowed from Hokkien 驚輸／惊输 (kiaⁿ-su, “afraid to lose out”).

Apart from the kiasis and kiasus, there are also Singaporeans at the other end of the scale – the healthcare workers who put their lives at risk.

2003 May 28, Frederick Lim, “Sars and the Singaporean: Crisis has brought out the best and the worst”, in Today, Singapore, page 22:

(Singapore, colloquial, mildly derogatory) A kiasu person.


confirm

From Middle English confirmen, confermen, from Old French confermer, from Latin cōnfirmāre (“to make firm, strengthen, establish”), from con- (“together”) + firmāre (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).

der

This is confirm not my handwriting.

That ex-lecturer-to-be confirm gone case liao.

2006, DanielS, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

(Singlish, Manglish) For sure, definitely.


ma

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of mah.


nia

Don't so kiam siap can anot? That one only five cents nia.

Come on, don't be so stingy. That costs only five cents.

(Singlish) Used to downplay the intensity of something that has been overestimated. Might indicate a slight belittling tone.


tio

(Singlish, uncommon) Correct; that's right.


tio

He tio virus

She tio money

(Singlish, transitive) To get, receive, experience, suffer or be affected by.

She play lottery and tio

(Singlish, intransitive) To win a game, especially a game of chance.

I tio banned

(Singlish, auxiliary, rare) Used before a verb to indicate the passive voice.


whack

en-verb

whack (third-person singular simple present whacks, present participle whacking, simple past and past participle whacked)

whacks (present singular third-person)
whacking (participle present)
whacked (participle past)
whacked (past)

Uncertain. Originally Scottish; probably onomatopoeic, but compare Middle English thakken, from Old English þaccian (whence Modern thwack by conflation with whack). Sense 6 of the verb is likely a semantic loan from Malay hentam (“to strike; to do something carelessly”).

sl

Miss Loi always tells her students not to anyhow whack, stay calm and know thy approach before attempting each question.

2007 September 17, “Composite Functions – Anyhow Whack Time!”, in exampaper.com.sg:

(Singapore, Singlish) To attempt something despite not knowing how to do it; to take on a task spontaneously and carelessly without planning.

(Singapore, Singlish) To eat something hurriedly.


later

once

antonym(s) of “At some unspecified time in the future”

* Adverb: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lator, equivalent to late + -er.
* Adjective: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lætra, equivalent to late + -er.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian leeter (“later”), West Frisian letter (“later”), Dutch later (“later”), German Low German later (“later”).

Compare Malay nanti (“later; if not”)

Later you fall asleep how?

(Manglish, Singlish) What if (something problematic or unanticipated happens); if not (something undesirable will happen).


shag

en-adj

shag (comparative more shag, superlative most shag)

more shag (comparative)
most shag (superlative)
shack (alternative)

From shagged or shagged out, originally British colloquialisms.

shag-boy

potenitally derived from one of the above terms, but possibly etymologically unrelated

I suppose they could not really blame us for feeling so shack after doing PT, drill and other boring lessons in the morning.

1994, C. S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, →ISBN, page 33:

(Singapore, Singlish, slang) Exhausted, worn out, extremely tired.

(Singapore, Singlish, slang, of an activity) Tough and exhausting.


senang

senang (comparative more senang, superlative most senang)

more senang (comparative)
most senang (superlative)

He candidly admitted to me that his job to maintain gym equipment is very "senang" (easy).

2005, Choon Wee Tey, quoting Howe Liang, Achievements Off the Beaten Track: Stories of Singapore Sport Veterans, Candid Creation, →ISBN:

(Singlish, Manglish) Relaxed, easy (of a job, etc.)


dey

Dey! Did you press the lift button? What? You have pressed the button for the tenth time?

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46:

Dei, you think what, President’s Star Charity ah?

2012 February 7 [2007], Laremy Lee, Radio Silence, →ISBN:

If a player makes a silly mistake, he doesn’t wail when told to “wake up lah, dey”.

2007 September 10, Sandra Leong, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, page 6:

(Singlish, Manglish) An informal Tamil-language term of address used when trying to get someone's attention.


lar

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative spelling of lah.


sial

(Singlish, Manglish) Alternative form of sia.


bluff

en-verb

bluff (third-person singular simple present bluffs, present participle bluffing, simple past and past participle bluffed)

bluffs (present singular third-person)
bluffing (participle present)
bluffed (participle past)
bluffed (past)

Probably from Dutch bluffen (“to brag”), from Middle Dutch bluffen (“to make something swell; to bluff”); or from the Dutch noun bluf (“bragging”). Related to German verblüffen (“to stump, perplex”).

der

Vinod, you want to bluff the doctor, your mother, father, uncle, auntie, CMPB all that I don't care. But you cannot bluff me.

1993, Haresh Sharma, Off Centre, Ethos Books, →ISBN, Act 3, scene I, page 86, lines 1–4:

(Manglish, Singlish) To give false information intentionally, to lie (to someone), to deceive; to put on an act.


shack

en-adj

shack (comparative more shack, superlative most shack)

more shack (comparative)
most shack (superlative)

(Singapore, Singlish, slang) Alternative form of shag (“exhausted; tiring”).


bah

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative spelling of ba.


sia

siah (alternative)
sial (alternative)
siol (alternative)

— If you can’t find your pencils, maybe someone stole them.
— For what sia?

[…] Really disappointed siah […] The damage is done and no explanation will be accepted...... damn stupid!

2004, joshley, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

Wah. Really damn shag [exhausting] sia, everyday. But I'm really glad to be able to contribute😄

As soon as the sentence was handed down, I saw my Mum crying. I was given 5 minutes to talk to them and after that, I thought to myself what the fuck am I going to do sia! […]

2020 January 14, Justin Vanderstraaten, quoting Moon, “Drugs, Cash, and Prison. When Does Enough Become Enough?”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-02-26:

And we fucking panic sia. We kept saying, "No no no!" And they kept shouting […]

2023, Kristian-Marc James Paul, Myle Yan Tay, Mysara Aljaru, Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore, Ethos Books, →ISBN:

(Singlish, Manglish) Tagged at the end of a sentence to express discontent, shock, exhaustion or exasperation.


eh

From Hokkien 欸 (--eh) and Mandarin 欸 (ê̄ / ế / ê̌, interjection).

ay (alternative)
ay (alternative)
ehh (alternative)
ehhh (alternative)

(Singlish, usually impolite) Hey, oi; said to get someone's attention.


eh

From Hokkien 咧 (--leh), with the l dropped.

ay (alternative)
ehh (alternative)
ehhh (alternative)

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of leh.


aiya

ai yah (alternative)
aiyah (alternative)
aiyoh (alternative)

“I don’t need to hear any idle gossip.”
“Aiyah, it’s not idle gossip! These are important details I’ve learned just from being around them, and from what Mr. Wong found out—”

2015, Kevin Kwan, chapter 3, in China Rich Girlfriend, Doubleday, →ISBN:

Aiyah, dun ask me why their name all so funny, can or not? You ask me, I ask who?

2023 September 8, Devyani Sharma, From Deficit to Dialect: The Evolution of English in India and Singapore, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

(China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Chinese Filipino, Chinese Australian, informal) ah; oh; exclamation of surprise, blame, dismay, shock, or fear.


meh

Really meh?

This one your one meh?

You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.

2010 August 22, Fiona Chan, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 13:

“Nice meh?” I would think sourly.

2013 October 7, Tee Hun Ching, The Sunday Times, Singapore, page 12:

"Huh? At this hour? Really meh?" He couldn't believe his own ears.

2020, Yasser Khan, Property Agent Secrets: The Underground Playbook For Growing Your Property Agent Business in 2021 & Beyond, →ISBN, page 123:

Not pain, meh. When you have eczema and do tattoos?

2024 March 28, Benjamin Tan, “In Their Own Skin: Portraits of Eczema in Singapore”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-11-26:

(interrogative) Final question particle expressing skepticism.


ulu

ulu (comparative more ulu, superlative most ulu)

more ulu (comparative)
most ulu (superlative)

Sembawang Park is considered to be one of the country's most ulu spots because of its comparative isolation, and it was almost empty.

2007, Neil Humphreys, Complete Notes from Singapore: The Omnibus Edition, page 157:

Just pretend you're walking in a more ulu part of Botanic Gardens.

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene xii, page 51:

(colloquial, Singapore) Remote; deserted


blur

blur (comparative more blur, superlative most blur)

more blur (comparative)
most blur (superlative)

From earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (“made bare, made bald”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (“to make pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“pale”). Compare Scots blore, bloar (“to blur, cover with blots”), Low German bleeroged (“blear-eyed”). More at blear.

inh

If a Singaporean gets frustrated at your stupidity, he can scold you for being blur as sotong (clueless as a squid).

2002 July 22, Hwee Hwee Tan, “A War of Words Over ‘Singlish’”, in Time:

Even if you don't know, just pretend as if you know-lah Mike. You are embarrassing me you know. If you are so blur like this, how to accept you as my sidekick man?

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 47:

(Singlish, Manglish) Lacking awareness; clueless or confused.


ya

From Malay ya, from Dutch ja (and ultimately Proto-Germanic *ja). Reinforced by informal variants of yes in English (e.g., yeah). Doublet of yes.

yeah (alternative)
yea (alternative)
yah (alternative)

What about yourself Mr Chee, never look a day older, you'll see the rest of us six feet under… Really you look very well. I heard you went for new treatment in Switzerland ya?…

1983, Stella Kon, Emily of Emerald Hill, →ISBN, Act 1, page 21:

(Singlish, Manglish) Used to form a confirmation-seeking tag question, expecting an affirmative response.


oso

Even the newspaper recommendation oso anyhow one.

2024 December 13, gwbasic, “Is it all the food influencers cannot make it?”, in HardwareZone Forums:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(Singlish) Pronunciation spelling of also, representing Singapore English.


steady

en-adj

steady (comparative steadier, superlative steadiest)

steadier (comparative)
steadiest (superlative)
steddy (alternative)
stedy (alternative)

From Middle English stedy, studi, stidiȝ, perhaps continuing Old English stæþþiġ, ġestæþþiġ (“steadfast, stable, firm, staid”), equivalent to stead + -y; or calquing Middle Low German or Middle Dutch stēdig. Cognate with Saterland Frisian stoadig (“constant, continual”), West Frisian stadich (“slow”), Danish stedig, stadig, steeg, Swedish stadig, Icelandic stöðugur, German stätig, stetig.
Compare also Old English ġestedegian (“to bring to a standstill”).
Sense 8 of the adjective is a semantic loan from Hokkien 在 (chāi, “steady, confident”).

sl

You get it right too many times. Your viewers must think you're damn solid, right? Get so many right on TV, steady lah, ang moh, they say, right? Fame gone to your head, is it?

2010, Neil Humphreys, chapter 10, in Match Fixer, Marshall Cavendish International, →ISBN, page 112:

(Singapore, Singlish, predicative) Confident and cool-headed under pressure; competent; reliable, adept.


steady

steddy (alternative)
stedy (alternative)


toh

From Hokkien 倒 (tó, “to fall down, to collapse, to go bankrupt”).

bor

Wa I want Toh already

If it toh, short term the mkt [market] will be scare sh1tless, but i dont think there will be a domino effect

2023 March 16, Mephist0pheLes, “If Credit Suisse toh, will have impact as big as Lehmann brothers?”, in HardwareZone Forums:

(Singlish, intransitive) To collapse (fail or break down internally); to fall asleep or collapse from exhaustion.

(Singlish, intransitive, rude, of someone) To die, to drop dead.


har

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of ah (interrogative particle).


PAP

(Singaporean politics, Singlish, derogatory) Pay And Pay (nickname for the People's Action Party)


saman

Borrowed from Malay saman (“fine, financial penalty”), from English summons. Doublet of summons.

I pass thru this gantry at ecp without cashcard. why do i kena saman till $70?

2007 December 17, Jonnykato, “ERP Question”, in singaporebikes.com, archived from the original on 2017-04-24:

Technically parking outside the lot is illegal parking, doesn't matter if you put a coupon. The patrolling wardens can't saman you but parking in washing bay and bike lots are very easy targets for residents to complain about. Because of that no escape from getting saman after a quick call to the hotline.

2011 July 12, Fredd, “I am a parking warden”, in singaporebikes.com:

Not just 'saman' kings: Kind parking warden helps old woman alight from taxi.

2013 November 9, Mark, “Not just ‘saman’ kings: Kind parking warden helps old woman alight from taxi”, in stomp.sg, archived from the original on 2015-10-25:

I did not know that a permit was needed to set a tent. So this nparks people came and check and issued me a saman of $300!

2015 May 14, Presskit, “Kena saman nparks help please”, in forum.hardwarezone.com.sg:

“When the parking warden comes around, they shout: “Saman! Saman!” and drivers rush to their cars.”

2015 August 7, Dylan Tan, “SG Quirky: The A-Z of SG50”, in Business Times (Singapore):

When SG50 Saman Rider is on duty, no law breaker will get away!

2015 September 10, Nina Syahirah, “STGCC Celebrates SG50 with Custom Munnies”, in safra.sg:

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, informal) A fine; a monetary penalty imposed for breaking the law.


white horse

en-noun

white horse (countable and uncountable, plural white horses)

(Singapore, military) A soldier who is the child of a minister, high-ranking civil servant or officer, or comes from a highly influential family; these soldiers are sometimes subject to preferential treatment in camp.


some more

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of somemore.


hor

From Hokkien 乎 (--hohⁿ / --hôⁿ, mood particle) and Cantonese 嗬 (ho², interrogative particle).

bor

Quite boring, hor?

Wah, you quite brave hor...

2005 October 30, Wong Kim Hoh, The Sunday Times:

An invariant question tag used to invite agreement.


jaga

From Malay jaga (“to awake; to watch over”).

[…] I better go to Ma’s place. You jaga the girls.

2014, Danielle Lim, chapter 14, in The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey, Ethos Books, →ISBN:

“Next to my shop, there was this auntie selling joss sticks and traditional Chinese items,” Mr Kadir said. “She would always help to jaga my shop when I need to go out, and when customers come she will help me to tell them to wait. After the work day finishes, she’ll always tell me to go home safely, I always remember that.”

2021 June 24, Jessica Heng, quoting Mr Kadir, “A Journey Through The Only HDB Estate In Siglap, The Lesser-known Dakota Crescent”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-09-09:

We sat around at the NLB after midnight and helped to jaga these migrant workers who were painting.

2023, Kristian-Marc James Paul, Myle Yan Tay, Mysara Aljaru, Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore, Ethos Books, →ISBN:

(Manglish, Singlish) To keep watch, to watch over.


ups

en-adjective

ups (comparative more ups, superlative most ups)

more ups (comparative)
most ups (superlative)

(Singapore, colloquial, predicative) Alternative spelling of upz (“outstanding”).


wah

From Cantonese 嘩 /哗 (waa³) or Mandarin 哇 (wa).

Wah, you quite brave hor...

2005 October 30, Wong Kim Hoh, The Sunday Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English:

(Singlish, Manglish) Wow!; whoa! (expressing surprise, gratification, exhaustion or exasperation)


kiasi

[ˌkjã˧ˈsiː˦˨]

Borrowed from Hokkien 驚死／惊死 (kiaⁿ-sí, “afraid to die”).

Apart from the kiasis and kiasus, there are also Singaporeans at the other end of the scale – the healthcare workers who put their lives at risk.

2003 May 28, Frederick Lim, “Sars and the Singaporean: Crisis has brought out the best and the worst”, in Today, Singapore, page 22:

The kiasi (those afraid to die) who insist on seeing a doctor for the most minor complaint such as "my baby sneezed this morning leh".

2006 July 5, Tan Chek Wee, “Debugging the kiasi, MC takers [letter]”, in Today, Singapore, page 18:

(Singapore, colloquial, mildly derogatory) A kiasi person.


peng

Gimme two laksa, one milo peng!

1992 February 21, HanLin Goh, “touchy subject”, in soc.culture.asean (Usenet):

Mamak, give me a "capati", extra large, bawang banyak-banyak; one ice kacang, two milo peng, tiga teh tarik...

1992 August 4, Beng Ting, “Malaysian food”, in soc.culture.asean (Usenet):

*sputters kopi peng across monitor screen*

2005 May 14, Ir. Liew, “Re: XX Pc User 2 - usb2COM.jpg”, in tmnet.communities (Usenet):

I make various types of hot and cold drinks but the most popular is my kopi peng.

2018 August, Trisha N, quoting Everling Ang, “Ang’s ‘kopi peng’ is worth waiting half an hour for”, in The Star, →OCLC:

(Manglish, Singlish, chiefly attributive, of a drink) Iced; with ice added.


zeng

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative spelling of zhng.


deh

(Singlish, Manglish) Alternative spelling of dey (“informal term of address used when trying to get someone's attention.”).


malu

en-adj

malu (comparative more malu, superlative most malu)

more malu (comparative)
most malu (superlative)


zao

From Hokkien 走 (cháu, “to run”), with Pinyin-based spelling.

Time to zao already.

(Singapore, Singlish) To leave hastily, to take off.


jalan-jalan

[…] he should know better than to go jalan jalan now.

2023, Agnes Chew, Eternal Summer of My Homeland, Epigram Books, →ISBN, page 25:

(Singlish, Manglish) To take a walk, to go for a stroll.


salah

(Manglish, Singlish, predicative) Wrong, incorrect.


lor

From Hokkien 囉 /啰 (--lo͘) and Cantonese 囉 /啰 (lo1).

loh (alternative)
lorh (alternative)
lo (alternative)

At my house lor.

It’s true for me, at least. Friends under interrogation insist that ‘Have You Eaten?’ is very much alive, but when asked to recall their last encounter, answers invariably skew towards inter-generational anecdotes. “Relatives lor” is the top reply, and “Small-talk with taxi drivers” emerged as a runner-up because many feel compelled to make conversation after the initial “PIE or CTE?” decision.

2018 September 17, Pan Jie, “Why Do We Greet Each Other By Asking, ‘Have You Eaten?’”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-10-02:

As a facilitator, I often ask the participants: how are you feeling now? And often, the replies I get are: "Okay lor", "Like that lor".

2024 February 6, Carrie Tan, “Advancing Mental Health”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 95:

Suggests that the reply given is the obvious or expected one.


tolong

‘Tolong, please don’t use the word ‘haunt’ in this context. It’s too creepy,’ said the Wife, smoothing away her goosebumps.

2004 August 22, “Queer Eye for the Dead Guy”, in The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), page 54:


wot

(Singlish) Alternative form of what (used to contradict an assumption)


agar-agar

From Malay agak-agak. Here, the letter k represents a glottal stop, but it is elided by many speakers in Singapore.

So I just got to agar-agar lor.

2018, Jean Tay, Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Scene 17, page 99:

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative spelling of agak-agak (“to estimate”).


agar-agar

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative spelling of agak-agak (“involving guesswork”).


wayang

en-noun

wayang (countable and uncountable, plural wayangs or wayang)

wayangs (plural)
wayang (plural)
wajang (alternative)

Transliteration of Javanese ꦮꦪꦁ (wayang, “shadow; imagination; puppetry”), from Old Javanese wayaṅ via Malay wayang. Cognate with Dutch wajang.

translit

There had been two important reservations made on the practice of consultation and consensus. […] The other reservation is that consultation and consensus is no more than a “wayang”, because views are not accepted and no changes are made to the original policy.

1991 January 3, Lim Boon Heng, “CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE (AMENDMENT NO. 3) BILL”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 56, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, column 724:

Besides being adept at directing actors from behind the camera, [Royston] Tan is a bit of a wayang king himself.

2006 April 24, Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

Dr Chee called the polls a ‘wayang’ and said they were being held so that the PAP could claim to have the people’s mandate to govern.

2006 April 27, Lydia Lim, quoting Chee Soon Juan, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

Mr [Inderjit] Singh […] had said earlier that Mr [James] Gomez told him the minority certificate incident was just a ‘wayang’, Malay for theatre.

2006 May 11, Leslie Koh, Aaron Low, quoting Inderjit Singh, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

They have to review whether they have revealed too much to the public before the wayang goes on.

2007, lobert, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

(Singapore, Singlish) Insincere behaviour; an act meant to deceive or mislead.


wayang

[…] some [MPs] have to do wayang wayang in the evening like meet the people sessions.

2008, Zai Zai, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

It’s taboo to say that you’re free, even if you have nothing to do, because that’s like asking to get fired. I think it’s obvious whether someone’s actually busy or just wayang-ing—they start toggling between the same documents or surreptitiously using their phone—we just don’t talk about it.

2024 December 8, Nadine Lee, quoting Jade, in-house counsel, “Singaporeans Confess How They’re Wayang-ing the December Blues Away At Work”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-12-08:

(Singapore, Singlish) To put up a front, to pretend (e.g., to be hard at work when one’s superiors are watching) or behave in a false and misleading way, especially if it puts one at an advantage.


wayang

(Singapore, Singlish, never attributive) For show, insincere or fake; ostentatious and showy.


xian

en-adj

xian (comparative more xian, superlative most xian)

more xian (comparative)
most xian (superlative)

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative spelling of sian (“bored, boring”).


xiong

xiong (comparative more xiong, superlative most xiong)

more xiong (comparative)
most xiong (superlative)

From Hokkien 傷 /伤 (siong). The spelling with x is Pinyin-based.

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative form of siong.


liao

Borrowed from Hokkien 了 (liáu) or Teochew 了 (liao²). Tone and spelling influenced by Mandarin liǎo.

leow (alternative)
lo (alternative)
loh (alternative)

I run 4 laps liao.

You decorate the cake liao?

(Singlish, Manglish) Indicates action completion (perfective aspect).

It’s going to rain liao.

Reach liao, give me a call.

Damn shag liao, need to go back and sleep.

I’m really tired now, I need to go back and sleep.

(Singlish, Manglish) Marks a change in state (inchoative aspect).


gao

gao (comparative more gao, superlative most gao)

more gao (comparative)
most gao (superlative)

(Singapore, colloquial) Alternative form of gau.


heng

en-adjective

heng (comparative more heng, superlative most heng)

more heng (comparative)
most heng (superlative)

From Teochew 興 /兴 (hêng¹, “fortunate”) or Hokkien 幸 (hēng, “fortunate”). Compare Thai เฮง (heng), Khmer ហេង (heeng), Vietnamese hên.

Damn heng... The bus tire puncture right before my stop. Bad luck everyone else though.

But Sunny very heng [lucky]... No damage on the driver's side.

2018, Jean Tay, Sisters & Senang: The Island Plays, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Scene 12, page 73:

Most Heng is join few month before June 2021. Your pay got adjusted to $4900 with all the new joiners in June + got 5k bonus.

2022 April 26, Unregistered, “Roles in accenture singapore”, in Salary.sg Forums:


keng

Clipping of chao keng, from Teochew 臭 (cao³, “dirty, ill-reputed”) + 經 /经 (gêng¹, “to evade; to pass the buck”).

(Singapore, Singlish) Synonym of chao keng (“to malinger, to shirk military duties by reporting sick”).


mah

— The plants are all dying already.
— No one here to water them mah...

[…] Alternatively train SBS bus drivers to become pilots also since they are already bus captains. Anyone can become a pilot mah. Its so easy. Everybody should give it try-but not with me on board.

2003, ANGELL, “SIA PILOT ISSUE”, in soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

Especially today—we holiday, mah, so don’t bring them to town until tomorrow.

2014, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Singapore Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 89:

In response, I ask if he thinks that his future child would be embarrassed about the online reputation that he has built for himself after all these years. “Why? All of this is just acting mah, I got nothing to be ashamed about.”

2018 July 13, Shaun Tan, quoting Kurt Tay, “Does Someone Like Kurt Tay Deserve To Be A Father?”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-08-09:

If I’m running around for errands, I want to look cute also mah. I used to wear shorts, but now I’d rather not. It’ll look like I’ve got thousands of cat scratches.

2024 March 28, Benjamin Tan, quoting Ursula Soh, “In Their Own Skin: Portraits of Eczema in Singapore”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-11-26:

Asserts that there is a straightforward or self-evident reason for something.


anot

Partial calque of Hokkien 抑無 /抑无 (a̍h bô / á bô, “or not; or no; or none”). See also Hokkien 抑是 (a̍h-sī / á-sǐ, “or”), 是抑毋是 (sī á-m̄-sī / sǐ á-m̄-sǐ, “isn't?”, literally “is it? or is it not?”).

pclq

Your computer got virus anot?

(Singapore, colloquial, Singlish) Alternative form of or not.


sian

en-adj

sian (comparative more sian, superlative most sian)

more sian (comparative)
most sian (superlative)
xian (alternative)

[Y]ou know you’re not the only one around who is bored and sian and tired of being bored and sian.

2006 October 3, Serene Luo, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, section 3:

“In a country where aspiration drives so much of who we are and what we want, it’s particularly sian to feel stuck,” he suggested.

2021 May 8, Sophie Chew, “I’m Sian. You’re Sian. We’re All So Damn Sian. But That’s Okay”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2021-05-08:

(colloquial, Singapore, Singlish) Bored, weary or fed-up; tired (of something).

— Sian. Fucking sian.
— Complain less. You bite that pencil anymore next time got termites inside you.

1997, Dave Chua, Gone Case, Ethos Books, →ISBN:

(colloquial, Singapore, Singlish) Repetitive, boring, wearisome.


wah lau

[ˈwɑ˦˨ ˌlaʊ˨˧]

[ˌwɑ̽ˈlaʊ˨˦˧]

From Teochew and Hokkien. Ultimate origin uncertain: first element equivalent to Hokkien 我 (óa, “my”) + lau, possibly from 老爸 (lāu-pē, “father”). Originated in the 1990s.

wahlau (alternative)
walao (alternative)
walau (alternative)

"Wah lau! You tekan him, ah? But he bigger than you, man!"

1992 February 22, soc.culture.asean (Usenet):

Zion Mansion... Wah lau, wasn’t that built in the Qing Dynasty or something.

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene iv:

(Singlish, Manglish) An exclamation of annoyance or exasperation.


kaypoh

kaypohs (plural)
kepo (alternative)
kepoh (alternative)

[k˭eˑ˨ p˭oː˨˦]

To get problems rectified, Lim who admits to being a “kaypoh” (busybody), would hassle the relevant authorities.

2007 March 26, Yeng Ai Chun, “A task for a ‘busybody’”, in The Star, Malaysia, archived from the original on 2019-01-02:

(Singapore, Malaysia, slang) A busybody.


ang moh

ang moh (plural)
ang mohs (plural)
angmoh (alternative)
ang mo (alternative)

/ˌɑŋ(˨)ˈmɔː(˨˦)/

Borrowed from Hokkien 紅毛／红毛 (âng-mô͘, “person of Western descent”, literally “red hair”).

zh-l

Apart from skin colour, I have nothing in common with these Caucasians. To be honest, I have very little in common with the expatriates who live in Singapore either. For a start, most of the ang mohs that live here, particularly the ones from Britain, tend to come from the upper-middle classes.

2001, Neil Humphreys, Notes from an Even Smaller Island, Singapore: Times Books International, published 2005, →ISBN; republished as Notes from an Even Smaller Island: Singapore through a Young Brit’s Eyes, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2004, →ISBN, page 208:

Zhen decided he liked Robert, although the Englishman smiled too much. Perhaps this was the ang mo way. In China, if a man smiled too much he was considered effeminate, but Zhen noticed that Baba Tan was completely at ease with them and laughed and smiled more in their company than when he was with the Chinese.

2007, Dawn Farnham, chapter 23, in The Red Thread: A Chinese Tale of Love and Fate in 1830s Singapore (The Straits Quartet; 1), Singapore: Monsoon Books, →ISBN:

Suyin recognized him immediately—the tall, uncomfortable-looking white man, the ang moh standing guard by the only unoccupied table in the cafe.

2010, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, chapter 8, in Joss and Gold, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN, page 254:

[H]e attracted the attention of a food vendor and pointed at a pot consisting of different cuts of meat stewed in a dark soy sauce broth, served with flat rice noodles on the side. The food vendors, or hawkers, smiled at each other beatifically while ladling out the hot soup and meat in a bowl. They were probably thinking something on the lines of, "The stupid angmoh doesn't know what he is about to eat!" Angmoh, literally meaning "red hair," is the Hokkien Chinese collective term for Caucasians.

2011, Edmund M. Schirmer, “Finding Home Again”, in When there were Tigers in Singapore: A Family Saga of the Japanese Occupation, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN, page 38:

With my kind of career and background, I have the best of both worlds. You can't tell me I'm that ang moh (Caucasian) who doesn't understand. I'm the Asian who's been through the same challenges, and I would show you how to overcome them.

2015 August 1, Wong Wei Han, quoting Stephen Krempl, “One bold move catapulted him to global stage: Man who heads his own HR consulting firm believes his willingness to stand out from the crowd and be counted was key to his success”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, archived from the original on 2015-09-01:

"Ang moh" is still used today with an implicit sense of the cultural power ang mohs wield in postcolonial Singapore, whether we admit it anot.

2017, Gwee Li Sui, “England”, in Spiaking Singlish: A Companion to how Singaporeans Communicate, Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Editions, →ISBN, pages 67–68:

(Singapore, Malaysia, informal, possibly mildly derogatory) A white person, especially one perceived as a foreigner rather than a local inhabitant.


gahmen

[ˈɡɑː˧.mən(˦)]

Variant pronunciation of government with second syllable omitted.

Without doubt, gahmen must medically subsidise the lowest 10% of the population.

2006 January 30, George Soros, “Should Singapore subsidise medical care?”, in soc.culture.malaysia (Usenet):

(Manglish, Singlish, derogatory, politics) Pronunciation spelling of government.


longkang

[ˈlɔŋ˧.kaŋ˦]

Unadapted borrowing from Malay longkang, from Min Nan 壟溝 /垄沟.

(colloquial, Singapore, Malaysia) Ditch, street drain


siam

(Singapore, Singlish) Out of the way!; get lost!


chope

en-verb

chope (third-person singular simple present chopes, present participle choping, simple past and past participle choped)

chopes (present singular third-person)
choping (participle present)
choped (participle past)
choped (past)

From Malay chup (“a cry in a game requesting a halt or the retraction of a stroke”), possibly from Hindi चुप (cup, “silence!”).

bor

Place a packet of tissues on a table and people will assume it is taken by someone in an act referred to as chope. Others may chope their table with a bag, knowing.

2022 May 15, Jonty Tan, The Local Immigrant, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, →ISBN:

(transitive, informal, Singapore) To reserve (a place), such as a seat in a fast food restaurant, sometimes by placing a packet of tissue paper on it.


thiam

From Hokkien 恬 (tiām, “quiet”), as in Hokkien 恬去 (tiām--khì, “shut up”) or 恬喙 (tiām chhùi, literally “silence the mouth”).

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative form of diam; shut up!


talk cock

en-verb

talk cock (third-person singular simple present talks cock, present participle talking cock, simple past and past participle talked cock)

talks cock (present singular third-person)
talking cock (participle present)
talked cock (participle past)
talked cock (past)

Either a calque of Hokkien 講𡳞鳥話 /讲𡳞鸟话 (kóng lān-chiáu-ōe), from 講話／讲话 (kóng-ōe, “talk”) + 𡳞鳥／𡳞鸟 (lān-chiáu, “cock (penis)”), or influenced by the English phrase cock-and-bull story.

cal

It was at this Parliament sitting, during an intense 40-minute exchange between Ling How Doong and Lee Hsien Loong, that Ling uttered the phrase "Don't talk cock," which became famous for all the wrong reasons in the annals of Singaporean parliamentary history.

2019, Loke Hoe Yeong, “14: Regrouping”, in The First Wave:

(Singapore, Malaysia, informal) To talk nonsense.

(Singapore, informal) To engage in idle chatter.


jakun

en-adj

jakun (comparative more jakun, superlative most jakun)

more jakun (comparative)
most jakun (superlative)

Semantic extension of the Malay Jakun, an indigenous ethnic group inhabiting the jungles of Pahang, Johor and Negeri Sembilan.

A jakun tourist’s worst nightmare…is an idiot who simply cannot see that people want to take photographs & simply stands right in front of the object jakun tourists want to photograph, & lingers around it.

2009 February 9, The Jakun Tourist A Jakun Tourist’s Worst Nightmare…:

Yes, it was one of the many jakun moments I had while in Singapore.

2013 May 17, Joel Wong, ONE Asia MMA Summit 2013: The Recap:

And it’s popular foods in Korean culture that apparently so many of our readers are familiar with it all! But of course, we all jakun lah LOL.

2015 December 26, The Halal Food Blog, Jinjja Chicken:

Sorry so jakun, need to post a picture of my Uber because it looks like a Bentley.

2015 June 26, shaolintiger, Frog Porridge, Chicken Rice & the Journey Home:

I was so jakun with the pen thingy and this happened hehe I feel like a kid.

2016 March 18, fatinabilaah, [Twitter feed]:

(informal, derogatory, Singapore) Fascinated by objects, events, or experiences which seem ordinary to others.


sama-sama

What else, you tell me, can make a group of young men from various backgrounds, educational levels and races doing their National Service (aka Army) and communicating on a sama-sama wavelength?

2006 October 5, Kaffein-nated: Funny Thing: Singlish:

Then all the apologists come and try defend this tai-tai. Come on la. They are all sama-sama elitist.

2008 May 30, ‘Little People’: A Clarification: Opinionated:

If I do, I just call my brudders activate 3 Bangla, hide in 3 different cars of sama-sama brand and then tip off ICA.

2009 February 27, Exclusive Interview With Mas Selamat Bin Kastari:

Well, “dun dun dun dun” and “kua kua” are sama-sama because “kua kua” also at once casts real life as a movie.

2015 August 26, Gwee Li Sui, Singapore English Archives- The Middle Ground SinGweesh on Wednesday: Kua Kua:

(Singapore, informal) The same; identical.


sayang

term-label

(Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, colloquial)

Indonesian
Philippine English
Singaporean English

* (Singaporean and Malaysian English): Borrowed from Malay sayang.
* (Philippine English): Borrowed from Tagalog sayang.

to regret, to miss (regret the absence of)


tai chi

en-verb

tai chi (third-person singular simple present tai chis, present participle tai chiing or tai chi-ing, simple past and past participle tai chied)

tai chis (present singular third-person)
tai chiing (participle present)
tai chi-ing (participle present)
tai chied (participle past)
tai chied (past)
taichi (alternative)
tai-chi (alternative)
taiji (alternative)

From Mandarin 太極／太极 (tàijí), Wade–Giles romanization: tʻai⁴-chi². Doublet of taegeuk.

zh-l

太極／太极 (tàijí)

From this poll, one respondent mentioned that an essential workplace skill is the ability to “taiji” (the art of passing one’s responsibilities to someone else), while another mentioned “how to bootlick your boss”.

2019 April 23, Grace Yeoh, “Many People Say They Miss School, But the Best Part of Work is Being Able to Learn Whatever We Want”, in ricemedia.co, archived from the original on 2024-10-05:

(Malaysia, Singapore, slang, figurative) To push a task or responsibility to someone else.


GG

GGs (plural)
G.G. (alternative)
G. G. (alternative)
G.-G. (alternative)
G-G (alternative)

generative grammar
generative grammar#English

(linguistics) Initialism of generative grammar.


kacau

[ˈk˭a˧.t͡ɕ˭jaʊ˦]

kachiau (alternative)
kachiao (alternative)
kajiao (alternative)
gajiao (alternative)

So even when his army kaki gajiau-ed him for evening joyrides, promising to bring a nice bottle of Black Label if he agreed, he always said no.

2014, Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Singapore Noir, Akashic Books, →ISBN, page 85:

Nazhan's defence lawyer Singa Retnam asked him if he had heard Nazhan telling Cpl Kok during the celebrations: "If anyone 'kacau' (bothers) you, tell me".

2019 June 12, Tan Tam Mei, quoting Singa Retnam, “SCDF NSF death: Corporal had a 'scared smile' after ragging ritual was mentioned, says witness”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, archived from the original on 2024-03-25:

(Manglish, Singlish) To disturb; to bother or trouble (someone).


butoh

(Singlish, Manglish, colloquial, vulgar) Penis

(Singlish, Manglish, colloquial, vulgar) Term of abuse.


chicken feed

en-noun

chicken feed (countable and uncountable, plural chicken feeds)

chicken feeds (plural)
chickenfeed (alternative)
chicken-feed (alternative)
chicken feet (alternative)

BMT [Basic Military Training] was literally ‘chicken feet’ compared to Officer Cadet School (OCS) […]

1994, C. S. Chong, NS: An Air-Level Story, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, →ISBN, page 16:

(Singlish) A trivial or easy task; a piece of cake.


chouchou

(Singapore, Singlish) Alternative form of chou chou.


XMM

(Singapore, Singlish) Initialism of xiao mei mei.


mampus

From Malay mampus (“to die, to perish, to be wiped out”).

bor

"Oh, my wife is such a shrew. No wonder I can't stay with her!" Mampus, you're finished!

Luckily, there were not in US dollars. If they were, mampus.

1998, unknown author, Singapore Business, page 123:

Advertlets? 2 months still haven’t received?!?!?! OMG. I just cashed out mine like last week. MAMPUS. Like this December then get?

2008 June 29, Khairul Neezam, “khaaaa-zaaam!”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2013-02-07:

Don't be [surprise] if I am using "Sure mampus", [s]o lembap or etc in this blog..

2009, Muhammad Norsina Zalin, My Name is Sina: Hi…, [blog]

Mampus! The recipe was in my family for seven generations! Now my unborn grandchildren will never get to enjoy this sedap dish with their multi-racial friends.

Mampus lah. How can immature females be allowed to choose their own life partner?

2013, William Gwee Thian Hock, A Baba Boyhood: Growing Up During World War 2, page 205 [book]

(Singapore, informal) finished, wiped out, kaput.


yaya

(Singlish) To show off or behave in an egocentric or self-important manner.


yaya

en-adj

yaya (comparative more yaya, superlative most yaya)

more yaya (comparative)
most yaya (superlative)


simi

A short sword or dagger used by the Kikuyu people.


minah

Yati feels she is lucky to get - and hold - a factory job, though it has earned her the title of "Minah Karan".

1987 August 26, Ning Juita, “Culture shock for Yati, the kampung girl”, in The Straits Times, page 16:

Among the ah bengs and ah lians, the mats and the minahs, the young expats and the backpackers, he stood out like a dozen guys on a male-only dance floor singing Dancing Queen (I'll never forgive Blur for ruining my 21st birthday).

2012 April 15, Neil Humphreys, “From Cool Dude to Sad Old Man”, in The New Paper, page 34:

“People thought I was a minah and that I would not make it but I did,” she says, using the colloquial term to describe rowdy Malay girls without drive or ambition.

2015 October 4, Wong Kim Hoh, “At 17, she found herself with a broken home and nowhere to stay”, in The Straits Times, page B7:

Hirzi said of their significance: “People watched the Minahs for entertainment, but there was also a lot (more) to the videos... When we were vulnerable, the characters, especially the Minahs, picked us up.”

2017 December 19, Audrey Leong, “YouTube duo makes curtain call”, in The New Paper, page 15:

(Singapore, colloquial, derogatory) A Malay girl.


onz

You onz?

Hiking tomorrow. Onz mou?

I am going on a hike tomorrow. Are you coming?

(colloquial, Malaysia, Singapore) Attending; coming; joining; participating


suaku

From Hokkien 山龜／山龟 (soaⁿ-ku, “mountain turtle”), from 山 (soaⁿ, “mountain”) + 龜／龟 (ku, “turtle”).

The suaku (literally "mountain tortoise" and figuratively "country bumpkin") sports a beer belly, fake brand-name apparel and oil-slick hair.

1986, “New Books”, in Asiaweek, volume 12, page 60:

(Singapore, informal) Someone who is not well informed; a country bumpkin.


suaku

suaku (comparative more suaku, superlative most suaku)

more suaku (comparative)
most suaku (superlative)

Ah Lian are not simply lowly educated, they also have supposedly 'pre-modern' or sua-ku (hill tortoise, metaphor for 'backward') modes of behaviour.

2003, Beng Huat Chua, Life is Not Complete Without Shopping: Consumption Culture in Singapore, →ISBN, page 88:

(Singapore, informal) Not well informed; backward.


sabo

en-verb

sabo (third-person singular simple present sabos or saboes, present participle saboing, simple past and past participle saboed)

sabos (present singular third-person)
saboes (present singular third-person)
saboing (participle present)
saboed (participle past)
saboed (past)

(transitive, Singapore, colloquial, informal, Singlish) To get someone in trouble, to prank, to sabotage another's efforts.


ownself

You may be ashamed of your ownself, to disturb People at this Time of Night.

1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

“Tea Cake ain't been no boy for some time. He's round thirty his ownself.”

1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper, published 2013, page 3:

Did you paint this your ownself?

(now chiefly regional, especially Southern US, Caribbean, Singlish) (One's) self; used with a preceding possessive adjective to form a pronominal phrase.


sibo

Derived from Hokkien 是無／是无 (sī-bô, “is not”).

u dun understand english sibo?

2009 December 29, GMAudition, “Gamerz Planet”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Ka ni na, ask stupid question sibo?

2010 September 26, Ang Shi Na, “Sheena’s101”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

You are factoring in the interest sibo?

2013 August 6, “BlueOldMan, HDB Resales price”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Grin until mouth crooked sibo?

2015 May 12, May Lee, “Study stress”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(Singapore, informal) An expression of disbelief, equivalent to Is it so?


senget

en-adj

senget (comparative more senget, superlative most senget)

more senget (comparative)
most senget (superlative)

(Singlish, Manglish) Askew, uneven, not straight.

What do you dislike about your appearance? My hair. It’s very difficult to maintain and when it’s too long it becomes senget (untidy).

1991 March 26, The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited:

(Singlish, by extension, never attributive) Crooked or dishevelled.


tekan

From Malay tekan (“to press or pressure”).

"Wah lau! You tekan him, ah? But he bigger than you, man!"

1992 February 22, soc.culture.asean (Usenet):

We have also been through training and we all kena tekan (were bullied), but even if we were ill-treated, we didn’t know that we were being ill-treated

2003 October 17, “Questions thick and fast in Parliament”, in TODAY, page 2:

When Hamdan joined their cell, Iryan told him the 1.6m-tall victim was someone they could tekan (bully).

2009 July 8, “Victim offered sex: Attackers”, in TODAY, page 10:

It will expose us to different ways of thought … like waking up at 4am and being tekan.

2013 July 17, “Paige Chua wears the pants”, in TODAY, page 60:

(Singapore, colloquial, slang) To bully or treat harshly, to punish (especially in military contexts).


sapu

en-verb

sapu (third-person singular simple present sapus, present participle sapuing, simple past and past participle sapued)

sapus (present singular third-person)
sapuing (participle present)
sapued (participle past)
sapued (past)

I liked to sapu everything.

2004 June 6, “Beancurd made me fat”, in The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), page 31:


kiap

(Singlish, placeholder) Tongs, clip; any claw-like tool used to grab objects or hold something in place.


kiap

kiap (third-person singular simple present kiaps, present participle kiapping, simple past and past participle kiapped)

kiaps (present singular third-person)
kiapping (participle present)
kiapped (participle past)
kiapped (past)

Her words conjure a determinedly striding auntie with a tote bag kiapped by her armpit, pushing the MRT doors open with sheer strength.

2020 April 4, Yeo Boon Ping, “Red, White, and Black: The Lives of African Singaporeans and PRs”, in ricemedia.co:

(Singlish) To clamp (as if with a clothes peg or tongs), to squeeze between.


botak

en-adj

botak (comparative more botak, superlative most botak)

more botak (comparative)
most botak (superlative)


kena

Alternative form of quena (“traditional flute of the Andes”).


kena

Borrowed from Malay kena (“to be struck, hit, affected by”).

bor

They all kena food poisoning.

If they ever catch you jaywalking, you will kena.

(ambitransitive) To experience, receive, suffer, get or be affected by (something negative).

He kena fine $10.

My job application kena rejected.

(auxiliary) Used before a verb to indicate the adversative passive voice.


bodoh

en-adj

bodoh (comparative more bodoh, superlative most bodoh)

more bodoh (comparative)
most bodoh (superlative)

(Singapore, Singlish, of a person) Stupid, dumb.


siala

(Manglish, Singlish) Alternative form of sial ah.


sotong

Blur like sotong

If a Singaporean gets frustrated at your stupidity, he can scold you for being blur as sotong (clueless as a squid).

2002 July 22, Hwee Hwee Tan, “A War of Words Over ‘Singlish’”, in Time:

(Singlish, Manglish) Used in similes to describe someone who is confused and clueless, i.e., blur.


ornot

(Singapore, colloquial) Alternative form of or not.


is it

issit (alternative)
izit (alternative)
izzit (alternative)

You forgot, is it?

Fame gone to your head, is it?

2010, Neil Humphreys, chapter 10, in Match Fixer, Marshall Cavendish International, →ISBN, page 112:

So short-lah, the chopstick. For children is it?

2012, Tan Twan Eng, chapter 1, in The Garden of Evening Mists, Hachette, →ISBN, page 15:

(Singapore, Malaysia, Wales) Final interrogative particle forming a tag question.


leh

Pitch contour: low-mid [lɛ˨]

You all damn noisy leh how to sleep?

We put all the poetry packets in a bag and let people rummage through it and pick one at random when they left the house. […] “Amazing leh, I can’t believe it was a random pick,” he texted me later, “This is better than ang pow!”

2015 March 1, Corrie Tan, “We filled our hongbao with poetry, not cash”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, archived from the original on 2022-12-05:

“They asked me to do the striptease. I said no,” confessed Bachelor #1. / “Why not? You’re from NDU leh,” I remarked, surprised that even someone from the Naval Diving Unit would be shy about showing his body.

2015 April 19, Yeo Sam Jo, “Hello, I'm Eligible Bachelor #43”, in The Straits Times, Singapore, archived from the original on 2016-06-08:

(declarative) Tagged at the end of a declarative remark for emphasis.


sumpah

Unadapted borrowing from Malay sumpah (“to swear, to make a promise”).

ubor

I sumpah (promise) mak! Anybody can come to see you mak. I won’t tell bapak mak. If you are happy, I am happy mak. Don’t kill me mak.

2004, Elangovan, O$P$, Singapore, →ISBN, page 16:

And because of the gravity of the matter, I voluntarily made my submissions to the Ministerial Committee in the form of sworn statutory declarations or, as they say in the coffee shops – sumpah.

2017 July 4, Lee Hsien Loong, “38 Oxley Road (Debate on Ministerial Statements)”, in Parliamentary Debates: Official Report (Parliament of Singapore), volume 94:

(Manglish, Singlish, intransitive) To promise; to earnestly swear that something is true.


jio

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, transitive) To invite (someone) to an event or activity.


play-play

Reduplication of play, influenced by Malay grammar (Malay main-main), or a calque of Mandarin 玩玩 (wánwan).

Don't play-play hor.

[…] Don’t play play... This is not your basic luxury condo. […]

2009, Jean Tay, Boom, Epigram Books, →ISBN, Act I, scene iv:

(Manglish, Singlish) To mess around, to play around; to take things lightly.


hiam

en-adj

hiam (comparative more hiam, superlative most hiam)

more hiam (comparative)
most hiam (superlative)

Borrowed from Hokkien 薟／莶 (hiam, “spicy”).

At best, it was just so-so – nothing like what we would cook for ourselves at home. It was not “hiam” enough probably from the lack of ginger or ginger juice and there was insufficient wine.

2011 Aug, “STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!”, in suituapui.wordpress.com, retrieved 2016-08-12:

(Singapore, colloquial, of food) hot and spicy.


cheem

cheem (comparative more cheem, superlative most cheem)

more cheem (comparative)
most cheem (superlative)
chim (alternative)

Borrowed from either Hokkien 深 (chhim, “deep”) or Teochew 深 (cim¹, “deep”).

You might consider it too cheem and arty farty but just pick up any journal on cultural studies and you'll find more cheem and arty farty stuff in them

1999 December 23, Dennis Kwek, “Pretentious Bullshit Alive and Well in Singapore”, in soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

Postmodernist discourse is *not* cheem.

1999 December 30, <aescu...@my-deja.com>, “Pretentious Bullshit Alive and Well in Singapore”, in soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

You know what’s cheem? Our CPF is cheem.

2014 June 23, Jonathan Lim, “17 Singlish words that offer so much more than their English equivalents”, in Mothership.SG, archived from the original on 2014-06-25:

(Singapore, informal) Deep; profound; complex.


lepak

head

lepak (inflections generally avoided, third-person singular simple present lepaks, present participle lepaking, simple past and past participle lepaked)

lepaks (present singular third-person)
lepaking (participle present)
lepaked (participle past)
lepaked (past)

I think we should rally behind PM [the Prime Minister] for the sake of national unity. Without national unity, there will be more single mothers, abandoned babies, people lepaking (loitering) …

1997, Aliran Monthly, volumes 17–18, Pinang, Malaysia: Aliran Kesedaran Negara, →OCLC, page 19, column 3:

We do things together and we lepak together quite a bit (hey, this is the solution to the lepak problem: the family that lepaks together stays together).

1997, Marina Mahathir, In Liberal Doses, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Archipelago Press, →ISBN, page 118:

The study's operational definition was that "a teenager lepaks if he gathers and remains in a public place without any special purpose other than chattering or laughing."

1998, Thomas A. Williamson, Leaving Town: Kuala Kangsar’s Colonial Past and the Postponed Nation in Malaysia (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation), Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, →OCLC, page 344:

"What do you think will happen?" a reporter asked a beautiful girl lepaking and smoking outside the Starbucks in Bukit Bintang Plaza. "Oh, at the bewitching midnight hour, everything will be back to normal. The office workers at Sri Hartamas will be back to their humdrum 9 to 5 jobs, no doubt bitching and wishing they were elsewhere."

2005, T. R. R. Raman, The Wedgwood Ladies Football Club and Other Stories, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Silverfishbooks, →ISBN, page 189:

Cafes mushroomed everywhere in KL's [Kuala Lumpur's] trendiest spots, and big names such as Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Starbucks made their presence felt. With these cafes, KLites often lepaked (hung out) way into the wee hours and now it has become a part of our pop culture.

2011, Tony Wilson, “Beyond Attitudes: To the Audience Itself!: Understanding Consumers: Interpretive Inductivism”, in Global Advertising, Attitudes and Audiences (Routledge Advances in Management and Business Studies; 44), New York, N.Y., Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 36:

(intransitive, Malaysia, Singapore) To loiter about casually or idly, to hang around unproductively, to laze around or relax.


zha bo

zha bo (plural)
zha bos (plural)
zha bor (alternative)
cha bo (alternative)
cha bor (alternative)

[ˌt͡s˭ɑː˨ ˈbɔː˦˨]

Borrowed from Hokkien 查某 (cha-bó͘, “woman, girl”).

They didn’t think my mum could take over, much less me, whom they referred to as Ang Yew Seng’s zha bor kia (Hokkien for daughter).

2010 May 29, The Straits Times, “Old Times, New Blood”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2015-02-06, page B18:

Bro, you see, the only thing common about the places you mentioned, all have Zha Bos, this is the entertainment sustaining the us today.

2010 June 18, “Thai girls are boring after long time”, in SingThaiDisco, archived from the original on 2016-03-05:

And most of them call me "swee zha bo", pretty girl.

2013 December 9, “Hawker Masters 2013: Secrets about famous ‘Bedok Camp’ Cheng Tng revealed”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), archived from the original on 2016-03-06:

(Malaysia, Singapore, colloquial) Lady or woman.


'cher

Student A: "Cher cher! Can I go to the loo?" Teacher: "Go lah go lah!".

1998 August 14, mrbrown, “The Great Singlish/Singapore Dialect Dictionary”, in mrbrown.com:

Teacher: WHO DID THAT? B: Cher cher, him! I saw! *points to A*

I suppose it was a lot better than being addressed as ‘cher, but at the time I kept wishing I had ended up in a junior college instead.

2014 March 9, Manoj Harjani, Chapalang Magazine:

(Manglish, Singlish) A teacher (a person who teaches in a school).


chut pattern

en-verb

chut pattern (third-person singular simple present chut pattern, no present participle, no simple past or past participle)

chut pattern (present singular third-person)
choot pattern (alternative)
choo pattern (alternative)
chu pattern (alternative)

From Hokkien 出 (chhut, “to produce or make”) + pattern.

The locals like to say 'someone choot pattern' meaning to say someone is being difficult.

2009, unnamed, ‘Boring’ Singapore City Photo, (online)

Actually, the term seems more Hokkien that Singlish - "chut pattern, liao".

2013, Patsy G, There is enough for all..: “Chut pattern, liao” [blog entry]

Many boyfriends going to chut pattern tonight!

2014, Mr. SGAG [unknown author], (online)

A fulfilling relationship is a wondrous thing to have but it does take effort to maintain and that entails the occasional chut pattern.

2015, Kenneth Khing, Skycart is write here, [blog entry]

If we really want to talk about people or organisations that chut pattern, one cannot leave The New Paper out.

2015, Kirsten Tan, The Online Citizen: Gutter journalism: The New Paper “chut pattern”, page (online)

IF DR CHEE SAYS HE IS SECOND WHEN IT COMES TO ‘CHU PATTERN’, NO ONE ELSE WOULD DARE TO CLAIM FIRST.

When we say a person ‘chut pattern’, it talks about someone full of antics.

(Singapore, colloquial) To inconvenience or disturb; to make a fuss and bother; to act up.


koyok

Borrowed from Malay koyok (“quack medicine”), from Hakka 膏藥／膏药 (kò-yo̍k, “herbal plaster, medicated patch, poultice”).

zh-l

Whenever I meet Meng Seng, he is always trying to sell me his koyok and recruit me into his Party.

2011 March 1, Ravi Philemon, “Goh Meng Seng the koyok seller”, in raviphilemon.net:

“I'm here to sell my koyok,” laughed Olivia Lum as she took to the stage and began her presentation on Hyflux Limited, it turned out that the koyok was not some sales pitch trying to sell ice to Eskimos.

2012 September 17, Tan Meng Chuan, “On The Challenges of Cleaning Water”, in Overseas Singaporean Unit, archived from the original on 2016-03-05:

This is the reason why I get so uptight, so aggressive when someone comes along, talks very well, but sells koyok and puts our country in danger.

2015 September 10, “Vivian: I fight back when people sell 'koyok'”, in The Straits Times:

(Singapore, informal) A phoney or fraudulent item; anything deceptively promoted as genuine or of high quality.


shiok

Borrowed from Malay syok (“pleasing; attractive”). Doublet of shoke.

bor+

Shiok Mike. Let's burn his house with this Mike.

2007, Elangovan, P, Singapore, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 51:

Ecstasy? Delicious? Pleasurable? How about just Shiok.

2014 June 23, Jonathan Lim, “17 Singlish words that offer so much more than their English equivalents”, in Mothership.SG, Mothership, archived from the original on 2014-06-25:

Use condom? Then not shiok lah.

"Women in Singapore are so beautiful", one contestant blur-blur announced. They are all so shiok!"

2022 September 15, Dr Gwee Li Sui, The Leeter Spiaking Singlish Book 3: Loanwords, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, →ISBN:


bo bian

From Hokkien 無變／无变 (bô-piàn, “no choice”).

bo pian (alternative)
bo pien (alternative)
boh bian (alternative)
boh pian (alternative)
boh pien (alternative)

In Singapore, there is no choice being one of the world’s twenty smallest countries. Boh pien ah.

2006, Stuart Lloyd, Gone Troppo: Hot Babes, Warm Weather, Cold Beer. Paradise!, Monsoon Books, page 13:

Eh, if cannot finish the work then bo bian must stay back

2011 August 21, Kirsten, “It's Singlish Lah!”, in SEA Youth Say So, retrieved 2015-10-22:

I have been sleep deprived for the past few days, and a friend who knows about it just sent me an online message: “Notti (lingo-speak for naughty) ah…still don’t sleep.” My reply, “Bobian (Singaporean-English term for no choice), I’m a workaholic…”

2013, Lena Chen, EFT Meditations, Trafford Publishing, page 8:

He already paid for my ticket so even if I was busy, boh pien, I would have to go.

2015 September 22, CLEO MAGAZINE, “11 WORDS THAT EVERY SINGAPOREAN WOULD UNDERSTAND”, in CLEO, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

(Singapore, Malaysia, informal) No choice; it cannot be helped.


bo jio

From Hokkien 無／无 (bô, “not”) + 招 (chio, “invite”).

Wa Lao William Tan, Why you Bo Jio Me to eat Domino’s Pizza?

2012 June 20, [Author Unknown], “9gag Singapore: Blogger William Tan Bo Jio Blogger Hpility”, in Hpility SG, retrieved 2015-10-22:

When we asked you for your favourite Singlish Slang, alamak, all the kiasu people rushed to share their favourites! Some won prizes. That could have been you. We hope next time you wouldn’t paiseh and join in the fun. Don’t say we bojio hor.

2014, [Author Unknown], “Love Singapore 50”, in Frasers Centerpoint Limited, retrieved 2015-10-22:

Don’t say we bo jio you to use JIO.

2014 October 11, Hu Ching, “This simple app might retire ‘bo jio’ from the Singlish vocabulary”, in mothership.sg:

Why got free barbecue 'bo jio'?

2015 July 5, S M Ong, “Why got free barbecue 'bo jio'*?”, in The New Paper Online, retrieved 2015-10-22:

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, transitive) To leave someone out from an event or activity by not inviting them.


pang seh

Hokkien 放生 (pàng seⁿ) to release, to set free.

Wau lau, damn shy man, Ah Lian on her wedding day kena pang seh by her husband.

2002, The Coxford Singlish dictionary, page 84:

Again pang seh after I buy tickets to movie. I never ask her to come again.

2003, Samantha Hanna, An essential guide to Singlish, page 69:

Don’t you hate people who pang seh last minute? Like you’ve got everything planned out, plan to have good time, lookin forward then suddenly boom, everyone pang seh last min….

2007-12-05, redstone, “Pang seh”, in SgForums.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

(Singapore, informal) To deliberately miss an agreed appointment, especially at the last minute.

Then in the end, he everytime^([sic]) pang seh me and disappear during working hours. In the end, I have to clear a lot of work for him instead.

2007-07-11, Im Allgemeinen, “JJ, Part III”, in WordPress.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

They had made a pact to attend Raffles Junior College together and while my nephew obliged for a while, he made an early exit and left Julian feeling that he had been “pang seh-ed” (let down) by his best friend.

2010-03-10, Belinda Wee, “Thaddeus’ pals”, in Go, Thaddeus!, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

Friends don't pang seh friends! Period. And we know just how to make sure your gatherings happens…Watch this space.

2015-01-14, Nando's Singapore, “Twitter”, in Twitter.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

(Singapore, informal) To stand someone up.


tompang

[ˌt˭ɔmˈp˭ɑŋ]

If you go out then can I tumpang some letters to be mailed from post box?

2003, Samantha Hanna, An essential guide to Singlish, page 86:

May I tumpang my furniture on your lorry?

2010-07-15, Denyse Tessensohn, “Useful (and some Colloquial) words and phrases”, in Puterim.com, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

Let’s just buy bags for men and get the girls to tompang all their stuff in there.

2014-04-21, Krystle Tse, “11 Singaporean quirks we never realised about ourselves”, in Mothership.SG, archived from the original on 2015-10-12:

While you were probably doing someone a favour then, you can now make some money when you help to 'tompang'.

2015-04-01, Victor Loh, “New app allows you to earn money when you 'tompang'”, in AsiaOne Digital, archived from the original on 2015-10-23:

To have one's items carried by another; to include items as part of a trip taken by another.


bao toh

[ˌp˭aʊ˨ ˈt˭o˦]

From Hokkien 包刀 (pau to, literally “wrapped knife”), referring to backstabbing.

bor

Eh butok lah! Which bastard paotoh to teacher that I carry handphone to school? Now kena confiscate!

2003 September 1, “pao toh”, in Talkingcock.com, retrieved 2015-11-02:

I saw Gary looking at his textbook during the test. Wanna bao toh him?

2011, Jonathan Heng, “Bao Toh, v.”, in Singslang.blogspot.sg, retrieved 2015-11-02:

Don't pao toh (snitch on) me hor!

2014 July 3, David Lee, “Beng in Brazil: Not the Only Singaporean to Leave a Mark at the World Cup”, in Tnp.sg, archived from the original on 2020-10-20:

Hey! Don’t bao toh me leh!

2015 September 27, PeaNutButter Studios, “Everyday Singlish”, in Youtube.com, retrieved 2015-11-02:

(Singapore, informal, Singlish) To inform on someone behind his or her back.


machiam

macam (alternative)
macham (alternative)

Kiasi cannot die; machiam machiam words

2000, Liew Geok Leong, Women Without Men, page 130:

Chennai (Madras) Photo: machiam our local pasar malam…

2009, Angel_Ling, “Tripadvisor”, in Tripadvisor.com.sg, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Machiam rojak! Very messy but taste shiok right?

2014-07-30, Owl International, “Singapore, We Are Ok! (National Day Song 2014)”, in Youtube.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Wah machiam movie star leh. . So handsome!

2015-09-16, Irene Ang, “Twitter”, in Twitter.com, retrieved 2015-11-01:

Machiam hipster like that.

2015, Denise Tan, “Burpple”, in Burpple.com, archived from the original on 2015-09-24:

(Singapore, informal) Like, similar to, resembling.


pok kai

Cantonese 仆街 (puk1 gaai1, “fall onto street, drop dead, go to hell”), from 仆 (puk1, “fall”) + 街 (gaai1, “street”).

zh-l

pokai (alternative)
pok-gai (alternative)
pok-kai (alternative)

Out shopping, child to parent. “Daddy I want this, daddy I want that.” Daddy, “Daddy pok kai awreddy^([sic]), ask your mummy.”

2003, Sylvia Toh Paik Choo, The complete Eh, Goondu!:

Today I went to Swensen's for dinner, even when I'm totally pok-gai.

2010 March 12, “No Words”, in Pearl, retrieved 2015-11-05:

After buying my girlfriend her branded bag, I’m officially pok kai, please don’t ask me to go shopping or clubbing with you.

2015, “Pok Gai”, in Singaporelang - What the Singlish?, archived from the original on 2019-03-03:

(Singlish, Manglish, slang) Having no money; broke; bankrupt.


chiongster

Defcon's fastest chiongster is out!!!

2011 April 3, “Fasteest chiongster”, in viwawa.com, retrieved 2015-11-11:

Regular partygoers are often referred to as “chiongsters”.

2012, Ivan Lim, Cara Van Miriah, Nightlife [Confidential], Volume 1, →ISBN:

You can be sure that all of that above will have been done by a chiongster.

2015 August 12, “6 Types of Colleagues You Always Meet In The Office”, in glints.com, archived from the original on 2015-08-20:

We should have a Chiongsters section in HWZ where Chiongsters can chit chat about their favorite places and person.

2015 August 18, “Petition to Have an Chiongster Section in HWZ”, in chioeve.com, retrieved 2015-11-11:

(Singapore, informal) Someone who regularly goes nightclubbing and partying; a reveller.


chiong

[t͡ʃʰjɔŋ(˦)]

From Hokkien 衝／冲 (chhiong, “to rush or charge”).

Can recommend places go chiong/clubbing?

2005 March 9, “Home> Bar”, in SGFORUMS, retrieved 2015-11-11:

Today Friday, my bookout day; Sushi, Or-Luah then buffet; After that go chiong all night; When I wake up my wallet damn light-ah; Aiyo Aiyo Ai-ai-yo-ah.

2012 September 12, “Lyrics for Songs Featured in Every Singaporean Son”, in MINDEF Singapore, archived from the original on 2016-03-04:

Where are you going to chiong tonight?

(intransitive) To go out partying or nightclubbing.


corright

en-adj

corright (comparative more corright, superlative most corright)

more corright (comparative)
most corright (superlative)


semula

Unadapted borrowing from Malay semula, a drill command, meaning "all over again".

(Singapore, Singlish, chiefly military, slang) To redo or restart (something) from the beginning.


fatty bom bom

fatty bom boms (plural)
fatty fatty bom bom (alternative)

Derived from slang fatty (“a fat person”) + bom bom ("a sound imitative of the noise a fat person makes when walking").
Compare West Indian/Caribbean slang fatty bum-bum ‘a very fat person, esp. a woman with large buttocks’ (Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, 1996), and Australian slang fatty boom-bah or fatty-boom-bah-sticks ‘a taunting nickname for a fat person’ (The Essential Lingo Dictionary of Australian Words and Phrases, 2015).

He skips 500 times a day and runs three kilometers a day to chase away his fatty bom bom blues.

1990 June 2, Chua Chong Jin, The Straits Times, page 28:

“My family and friends were quite upset for me when they read it, but I don’t take it seriously,” said the 79kg heavyweight, who told us there were worse disparages like a “Go Home, Fatty Bom Bom” message posted on the Talentime forum.

2001 November 30, Jeanmarie Tan, The New Paper, page 42:

I remember, too, a ditty: "Fatty, fatty bom bom, curi curi jagung; mata-mata tangkap, masuk dalam lokap" (the fat one steals the corn, gets arrested by police and is thrown into the lock-up.

2006 January 10, Kathirasen, New Straits Times:

I particularly liked: Fatty bom bom, meaning a fat bottomed person.

2007 November 7, Rosie Milne, “Trouble and strife: Singlish”, in The Telegraph, retrieved 2016-03-28:

Soon, there were all sorts of derivatives - fatty, fatso, fatty bom bom, Trim and Fit club (arguably not the children's fault) - so much so that by the time someone reaches adulthood, the term had become a source of deep emotional pain.

2014 October 20, Jeremy Au Yong, “Who are you calling fat?”, in The Straits Times:

“Fatty bom bom” refers to an Ah Pui; “bom bom”, as the sound a heavy, wobbling body makes, dramatizes fatness.

2015 November 11, Gwee Li Sui, “SinGweesh on Wednesday: Kiam Chye Char Loti”, in The Middle Ground, archived from the original on 2016-08-09:

(Singapore, Malaysia, colloquial, mildly derogatory) A fat or overweight person.


siew dai

[sjuː˨˦ t˭ɑɪ˨]

From Chinese, though ultimate source language unascertained. Apparently 少底, literally "less base", from 少 (“less”) + 底 (“base; bottom”) in Cantonese pronunciation, referring to the condensed milk, used for sweetening, that sits at the bottom of the cup. In Cantonese this would be pronounced siu² dai², but the compound has not been traced in Cantonese.

Ordering a cup of Kopi C Siew Dai (Coffee with evaporated milk and less sugar) makes you feel very Singaporean.

2007, iwatch_ueat, “Tong Ya coffee: super crispy kaya toast!”, in ishootieatipost, retrieved 2016-04-01:

But nothing beats that cup of kopi-o siu dai from the nearby kopitiam uncle who knows you best.

2009, Dominic, “Hello, Google!”, in blog.gothere.sg, retrieved 2016-04-01:

“I like coffee better.” He smiled. “Kopi-O siew dai.

Before he opens it, he asks what I would like to drink, then shouts out to a woman stirring a cup of Milo vigorously: “One kopi peng siew dai, and one teh si for me.”

2015, Wong Kim Hoh, “Former kopi boy's still full of beans”, in The Straits Times (Singapore), retrieved 2016-04-01:

(Singapore, colloquial, informal) Less sweet (as a preference when ordering coffee or tea).


buay tank

[ˌbwe˨ ˈtɛŋk̚˦]

From Hokkien 袂 (bōe, “cannot”) + Singapore Colloquial English tank (“to withstand”).

This boy damn act cute, I buay tank.

2011 October 29, “Udders”, in Ultimate Killjoy (blog), retrieved 2016-03-26:

Sorry I really buay tank my eyes are closing, head spinning I need to sleep haha.

2014 May 20, “little taste of heaven -”, in Sabrina (blog), retrieved 2016-03-26:

Lonely mudpie for lonely people. Going to watch Ah Boys to Men at 6:05pm. Really buay tank the loneliness here.

2015 February 18, “冰冷的除夕夜”, in dreamexplorer (blog), retrieved 2016-03-28:

Oh well, cheers to a better day ahead. I’m freezing now. I buay tank, I need to go hide in my blanket now.

2015 March 7, “Seoul Student Exchange in Sogang University First 2 Days of School”, in Seoul Student Exchange at Sogang University: 26 February – 20 June 2015 (blog), retrieved 2016-03-29:

Singapore’s star awards – the most shameless show. Buay tank how they shamelessly give awards to themselves for being the best. Please. If you are the only one running in the race, and you get champion, may I know what’s there to be happy about?

2015 April 26, aiology (blog), retrieved 2016-03-30:

(Singapore, colloquial) Unable to deal or to handle something or someone; unable to put up with a situation or person much longer.