We'll start with those general terms in Singlish starting with A & B

General terms

4D
Local 4 digit lottery game run by Singapore Pools
5Cs
The 5 C's of Singapore, namely Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, (Country) Club

A

Aboden / Abuden (ah-buh-den)
Thrown in response to remarks stating the obvious. Equivalent to "Isn't it obvious?" or "Duh?". Sometimes shortened to "Aboh?". Derived from "and then...?" as if to say "need I say more?".

Act blur
Cantonese Pretend to be ignorant, feign ignorance.

Ah?
Expression used like "Lah", but in questions, rhetorics, and in questions where opinions and affirmations are being sought. "This dress looks good on me ah? / Eat what ah? / You going home first ah? / He was there first ah?"

Ah Beng (male) / Ah Lian (female)
Hokkien. Hill billy, toughie, redneck. The expressions came about because they are common Chinese names.

Aiyah! / aiyoh!
Malay. Oh, no!

Alamak!
Portuguese origin. An expression of surprise / shock. Lit. "oh my mother!" Possibly carried over from Singapore's neighbour Malaysia, which was previously a Dutch colony.

Arrow
To pinpoint or pick on; To assign someone to an unwanted duty. "Why he arrow me to do this?" (derives from National Service/military practice of placing arrows on a name list to denote those responsible for a task)

Auntie
Used as a generic title for females who are middle-aged or older, especially those who are not well acquainted. Can be slightly offensive when used on younger women. Young children are usually taught to call female adults "auntie" as a sign of respect. "Hello Auntie! How are you?" Also used to describe a younger person who dresses / behaves in an uncool / unfashionable manner, like older people. "Eh, today you dress very Auntie leh..."

B

Berak
Malay. To make a bowel movement.

Blur
English. Clueless. In a daze. Unaware of what is going on.

Bodoh
Malay. Ignorant.

Boleh
Malay. Can, possible.

Buaya
Malay. Lit. "crocodile". A womanizer, flirt.

Hehe Aiyoh, thread like this also have ah? But is aiyah really Malay, meh? Ayah means father lah. :P

There are terms that we don't commonly find in Manglish. For example I initially didn't know what aboden meant. Like so blur only

wha lao leh...

C

Chao
Hokkien. When talking about scent/smell, it means it's smelly. Also can be used when someone plays dirty (jiak chao) in a game."That guy play basketball very chao!"

Chop
from Malay cap, which is from Hindi छाप ćhāp (stamp) "Make sure that your passport got chop"

Chin chye lah!
In answer to a query: "I have no preference; it's up to you, don't bother me!"

Chio bu
Hokkien. Good-looking female. Similar to use of "hot chick" in America.

Chiong sua
Hokkien. Gung ho. Lit. "to charge up a hill". In National Service/ military context the literal meaning may be used.

Chope
Reserve. Derived from chop; to leave a mark. Singaporeans have a habit of leaving objects on seats/ tables to reserve places. "Don't take this seat, I choped it already."

Confirm plus Chop
Shortened from "confirm plus guarantee got chop" To mean that you are extremely sure of something (derives from National Service/ military situations where one needs to be absolutely sure about something; guarantee got chop denotes that the paperwork will be approved)
A: "You sure next week sargent giving us leave?" (Are you sure our sergeant is granting the platoon a day off next week?)
B: "Confirm plus guarantee got chop." (The sergeant would have to get approval to grant the entire platoon a day off)


D

Dey!
Indian. "Hey!"

Double confirm
Confirm and reconfirm. Used to emphasis the confirmation.

Dulan
Hokkien. Pissed.

Confirm plus Chop motherfcker

Tangy..u 4got words like "Bo liao" and "buay hiao bai" but i guess they're more chinese than singlish right?

^ dat's not chinese but more like hokkien, i don't think it's singlish leh.. maybe if you add some enggrish words to the phrase, it may be classified as singlish under wikipedia???

for e.g.

it's 12 midnite here now, lao niang go koon liao.. bubbye!!!!

that may be singlish then!!!

singlish soo hard to understand..

once i went to this starhub store to get a cellphone plan...i started speaking english cuz i cannt understand some of their mandarin..but she just started mixing mandarin into her english ...it was so hard to understand.

also...one funny thing they do in singapore. my dad went to this coffee shop..and he had to go to the washroom there so he asked the clerk..can i use the washroom? the clerk said in a welcoming way: can!! can!!!

^ maybe you speak engrrish with slang lah...dat why they don't unnerstand u mah.......

yeah..normally the public toilet clerk would juz demand 20cents and give u a packet of tissue... this clerk is quite courteous leh...... why u think he was being funny?????? =^.^=

i thought singaporeans spoke english?

Nope, we speak Singalish lah!!!!!!!!

^uhm,..my english is fine...

and i really despise the lah thing...

Why? cuz it reminds you being a FOB?

you can say 'lor' if u want instead of the 'lah' thing??

bro...though we speak like that...we always know when to change and when to use

despise...why despise when it is the culture...same goes to Malaysian or other cultures for that matter

chio /cheeoh [ pretty, smart, handsome; Mand. ä¿� qiào] Physically attractive, good-looking, pretty.
2002 Tee Hun Ching The Straits Times (Life!), 6 April, L3 Contrary to the common belief that cheerleaders are simply chio-leaders (chio is Hokkien for good-looking), these crowd-warmers come in â€ËÅ“all shapes and sizes’.

chochok /choh-choh [Johor Mal. chochok, chuchok pricking, stabbing, driving a point into anything (Wilkinson); Johor & Penang Mal. menchuchok, menyuchok pierce (beads, ears, nose); thread (needle); prick (of thorns, for injections, a boil); stab (of colic pains); make holes (for planting) (Winstedt); or Singapore Mal. chochok, mengochok to incite = onyok, mengonyok to incite, to egg on (Wilkinson); Johor & Penang Mal. chochok, chuchok incite, urge (by a dig in the ribs); penyuchok mischief-maker; compare ochok, mengochok incite to a quarrel by tale-bearing (Winstedt)] 1 Annoy, disturb, provoke. 2 Instigate, make trouble. 2 1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 305 chochok. To instigate: Malay. 1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 38 Chochok (Malay). To instigate; to make trouble.

deh /day. [poss. < Mal. = adek younger brother or sister (Wilkinson); Jav. �i, a�i younger sibling; person younger than oneself (Horne); compare Ind. dik, adik younger brother or sister; form of address to a younger brother or sister and to younger people (Echols & Shadily, Ind.“Eng.)] Used at the ends of sentences for emphasis.

fly kite [Eng.] go fly kite: get lost, go away, leave me alone. Compare Go fu-k Spider.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 307 fly kite. Euphemism for more vulgar forms of outbursts as someone who is frustrating and annoying. 'Go fly a kite' is somewhat like 'go jump in a lake' socially acceptable alternative to the ubiquitous but unprintable 'fu-k-off'.

fu-k spider [origin uncertain; poss. < Eng. spider (military slang) the dirt in a rifle barrel; or f. the practice of boys catching spiders and having them fight each other (Coxford Eng. Dict.)] vulg. 1 An exclamation expr. extreme frustration. 2 In go fu-k spider: go away, get lost, leave me alone. Compare Go Fly Kite.
2006 Neil Humphreys Final Notes from a Great Island 133 .. National Servicemen are all fluent in bizarre Hokkien and Singlish phrases that mean nothing to anyone else. Approach a Singaporean woman and say 'fu-k spider'� and she almost certainly will not clean your rifle. .. Singaporean men possess the ability to converse in an exclusive, members-only language. It is not Malay, it is not Singlish, it is not even Hokkien. It is Army Speak. If you do not know the language, you can go fu-k spider�.

k, i guess i'll take back the despise part. i guess i dont hate it that much, but i wont be able to bring myself to add a lah or lor at the end of every sentence.

it's like canadians put Eh in the end of every sentence lol.

i say...stick to proper english.

go fly kite lah...... Singlish like this more colorful one. why u want to speak like an enggrish helicopter?

GABRA (Contributed by Terry How)
To panic or be so nervous that you mess things up.
"Acherly, she a damn solid athlete. But every track meet, hor, somehow she gabra."


GAHMEN (Contributed by edaniel)
Has nothing to do with the garment industry, but is the Singlish mispronunciation of "government". Origins usually attributed to incensed taxi drivers offering unsolicited political opinions.
Taxi driver: "The gahmen always charge for everything. Increase ERP, increase taxi rental, then go and cut CPF. Like that how can?"

GARANG
Malay for 'fierce' or "powerful". Can mean "impulsive", "courageous", "foolhardy".
1. "The CO damn garang one, so don't ji seow with him"
2. "Why so garang for? You not kia si is it?"

GASAK/GASAK BUTA
Derived from the Malay phrase "gasak buta", it literally means to "fight blind". It has two meanings: one is to do things in a panicky or haphazard manner, while the other is to grab or swipe things in a gluttonous, indiscriminate manner.
1. "This sort of thing must do properly, cannot anyhow gasak buta!"
2. "Wah lau! Everybody go to McDonald's and gasak all the Hello Kitty oreddy!"

GAU MM TIM
Cantonese for "cannot manage". Often used in the sense that things are going out of control.
"Ah Lien got promoted to marketing manager? Wah lau, she sure gao mm tim one."

lol! in literal pinoy it also means crocodile, but also means a greedy person

boo singlish!

'does anyone get ashamed when they speak singlish???

do u put on an accent when u speak engriish?

where got? i don't malu when i speak singlish what.

people understand me more and i easily get around the island state.

no problem what. sometime people think i singaporean. like that shiok or not?

Hello. I'm interested in learning more about Singlish and Singaporean slang-I'm interested in knowing, are there any Singaporean terms for "tomboy"?

not sure what singlish word for 'tomboy' is... but a hawtie sexy gal is 'chio bu'.. if u need to know

tangawizi,

where's the rest of the list?

I busy lah... wait can or not?

Hi-I was doing a little research. I don't know if these are neccessary Singlish terms or not, but do you or does anyone else here know if "tomboi, tombou, pengkid, token girl and lakin-on" are terms used in Singapore?

can, no ploblem lah.

just can't wait for your definition of "shiok". hehe

cheers

never heard of any of those in Singapore....hmmmm

'tomboi' is used there, but haven't heard the rest.. where did u get them from???

I saw "tombou" used here:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:F6N_T...;cd=5&gl=us

"token girl" was used here:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:VmEID...;cd=1&gl=us

I saw the term "pengkik" used here:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:Gee7L...;cd=2&gl=us

And "pengkid" here:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:HhuHs...;cd=2&gl=us
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:bC3LL...cd=23&gl=us


I've seen the term "lakin-on" used:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:4oe58...cd=12&gl=us

I think it's only used in the Phillipines.



I think it's only used in the Phillipines.

Is the term "ala lelaki" used in Singapore?


I thought you might want to add these links on Singlish as references:

http://www.singlishdictionary.com/
http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?...lexicon=lexicon

The second one is an online slang dictionary.

Can someone please help me out?

You can go to the website below for singlish def.
Singlish Dictionary

I respect and admire Singlish.
I am Japanese raised in Singapore, while most Japanese mingle with
themselves I went to Local school (La Salle Callege of Music if you know..)

I tell all my friends here in Japan about Singpore and every one says it's cool.
you need some historical and cultural and racial distribution things of Singapore
to explain the beauty of the language.

I go back to Singapore twice a year to see my friends and parents who are still
in Singapore.

BTW, my parents are complaing that the rent is skyrocketting like Shiao,,
it was 2000 S$ and it'll be 4000S$ from next month....

be careful not to become like Japan, leh..

I still like Singapore when Mee Soup was 1.50S$,, and tasted better....

Welcome to SG Chat Schrouge!!!

u mean skyrocketing like 'xiao' (mad), 'shiao' means small in mandarin..

I don't know any place in SG where hte mee soup is S$1.50, if it still exists please let us know....

please can u explain more about the historical and cultural racial distribution of SG to explain the beauty of Singlish? i am curious!!!! thx!

Oh...in Indonesian we have slang word similar like this. But it's Cincay lah hai! and have meaning like "just relax!".

Hi-is there anyone here who can please tell me what terms they use for "tomboy" in Singapore, and can please verfiy if these terms listed are used?

Hello-if you don't know any Singlish words for "tomboy" do you know any words that they use in Singapore for tomboy?

Hi SG chat! Greetings from the Philippines! ^-^

I found this thread very interesting and fun. It was only recently that I got hooked on Singlish ever since I started watching PCK on YouTube lol.

I'm looking forward to learning more Singlish. Thanks to PCK. XD

Now I can grasp Singlish better since I'm now accustomed to listening Singlish. So will the lessons continue? Can or not?

Caaaaan..... welcome to Singapore lar!!!

Thanks tangawizi! ^-^


I hope we kenna get along ah! Dis guy not kiasu in losing proper English lar haha! Just kidding!
Singlish rocks! \m/^o^\m/

Eh? How come u can speak Singgrish har???? Your Singgrish not bad leh....... hehe

the most famous word in Singapore is indeed = knn

before coming to singapore, I never hear knn being uttered by any malaysian before

Muttons at Midnight

Is this one real or not?!

Heard that one before. People say it was a broadcast from 98.7 FM.

Aunty: "Fly lice... ah, beef fly lice..."

You are all talking about Singlish?

Well, if you can find anything funnier, please let me know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az5cKxD-s94

Eh..its not funny, its fking lame. its call phone rage similar to road rage where heavy traffic caused jam, but in this case the jam occurred immediatly at the brain.

Well, I got a good laugh, even though I understood no more than 25% of what they were arguing.

Good take it from me, the other 75% are garbage.

In Thailand we have Aiyah! too. Same meaning.

i think the most common one is = wah lau eh