Nice cool Singaporean English words, not Singlish words.
Paul Davidson
--
Paul Davidson
Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
news:39008EF1...@yamashita.dontspamme...
> re: title "Nice cool Singaporean English words, not Singlish words."
>
> how do you distinguish between English and Singlish? where do you draw
the
> line?
>
>
>
> Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
> ...> * kiasu, kiasi, kiapor (a typical trait of most Singaporeans)
>
>
> there is also "kia jeng hu"
>
> from my Singlish Database ...
>
> Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
> Entry: kia jeng hu
> Pronun / Tone: gia- tzeng\ hu\
> Explanation: fear of the government/the authorities (*)
> Etymology: <Hokkien> kia (fear) + jeng hu (government)
> SGL1: I leepot dis in de income tax, not say I kia jeng hu, but
> I honesty mah!
> EGL1: I included this in my income tax returns not out of fear,
> but because I am honest.
> SGL2: Mmm, dis belly good! Kia cheng hoo ah? Try try won die
> one lah!
> EGL2: Hmm! This stuff is very good! Are you cowed by the law?
> Come on, try it!
> Remarks: (*) American English: 'the fear of Uncle Sam', a very rare
> disease for Americans.
>
>
> ...> * cheapskate (debased, rather than stingy, locally)
> examples please.
>
> ...> * cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
> examples please.
>
> ...> * cute (adorable but ugly, locally)
> examples please.
>
> > * to arrow someone (to point the finger at or to accuse someone)
> examples please.
>
>
> from my Singlish Database ...
>
> Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
> Entry: arrow
> Pronun / Tone: air-rowŻ
> Function: (verb, transitive)
> Domain: [Military+]
> Explanation: to delegate, to assign somebody to some (usually
> unpleasant) task (*)
> Etymology: creative extension of <English>. [Similar to Cupid's
> arrow, but this is not a labour of love.]
> SGL1: Why don't you arrow Ahmad to do it?
> EGL1: Why don't you delegate the task to Ahmad?
> SGL2: Now, if no volunteer, I will arrow somebody.
> EGL2: Now, if I have no volunteers, I shall assign somebody to
> do the job.
> Remarks: (*) "arrowing" can also be done in absentia - when the
> person being "arrowed" is absent. cf: kena arrow
>
>
> Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
> Entry: kana arrow
> Pronun / Tone: ka-naŻ air-rowŻ
> Function: (verb: passive)
> Domain: [Military+]
> Explanation: was/were tasked to do something, got assigned a task (*)
> Etymology: <Malay> kena (hit) + <Singlish> arrow
> SGL1: Sorry darling, I kana arrow by boss to do dis, so bo bian
> must do over-time.
> EGL1: I'm sorry darling, I was assigned by the boss to do this,
> so I have no choice but to do over-time.
> SGL2: Sundeep and Ah Seng kena arrowed to wash toilet.
> EGL2: Sundeep and Ah Seng were tasked to wash the toilets.
> Remarks: (*) rf: kana, arrow
>
>
> --
> Very Nice Guy (Magix Version), Singapore
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> We are often envious of the success of others, but
> not envious of the **** they went through to achieve
> their success. - Very Nice Guy
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
Sophus Lefouque (M)
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Singlish sounds like Jar Jar Binks? :)
chow ang mo, wat tokking u? catch no ball.
;-)
Angel of Death
Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
Chris S.
"Alvin Chan Yew Kee" <Alvin Chan Yew K...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
> * lah
What kind of word is <lah> ? Is it some kind of emphatic particle? And
where did it come from?
It kind of reminds me of the way Quebeckers (at least in Montreal) use
<là> at the end of their sentences.
--Chris
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> wah dis one sounds like kah cherng bin
no lah, i action action scare him ony lah. acherly hor i bely nice one leh.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> In article <38ff1...@news.cyberway.com.sg>,
> "Alvin Chan Yew Kee" <Alvin Chan Yew K...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>
> > * lah
>
> What kind of word is <lah> ? Is it some kind of emphatic particle? And
> where did it come from?
from my Singlish Database ...
Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
Entry: lah!: … lah!
Pronun / Tone: la\
Function: (interjection)
Explanation: (used for emphasis or to give a command or strong
suggestion/recommendation)
Etymology: <Malay> lah (forms imperative) & <Chinese> la\
(interjection)(forms imperative) (*)
SGL1: Come lah!
EGL1: Come!
SGL2: Don gay lah!
EGL2: Stop acting big! (Stop your empty boasting!)
Remarks: (*) Coincidentally, the lah (stand-alone or as a suffix)
is used in Malay and the similar la\ in Chinese (including
Mandarin and various dialects) have a similar function.
The confluence of these mutually reinforcing usages gives
rise to "lah!", often used to epitomise Singlish.
there are also other variations of 'lah' with different intonations giving
different shades of meaning.
SGL: A:How's things? B:Can survi lah!
EGL: A:How are things? B:I am just making ends meet.
SGL: I got my housing loan lah, car loan lah, chewren tewshen fee
lah, … so many tings.
EGL: There is my housing loan, car loan, children's tuition fees, …
and what have you.
SGL: You smoke some more lah! You smoke some more lah! Kana cancer then
you know er!
EGL: Go on! Carry on smoking! I hope you get cancer!
SGL: Gar gar try mah! Buay see eh lah!
EGL: Come on, be brave! Try it! It won't kill you!
SGL: Aah! Bedek lah!
EGL: Ha! You are bluffing! (I don't believe you.)
SGL: My fork lah!
EGL: So, it is all my fault, isn't it?
SGL: Ya lah! Nemmai lah!
EGL: Don't bring it to heart.
Yes, please forgive him.
Oh, come on! Get over it
SGL: Flend flend nemmai lah!
EGL: We're friends. Don't be so calculative / mean / mercenary / fussy!
SGL: Oor! Dat one ah? Say so lah!
EGL: Oh! That one! Why didn't you say so?
SGL: Soot! Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal! Steady lah!
EGL: Shoot! Goal! Simply superb!
did you have a good laugh? i hope you find these interesting.
some more still got. Wait for my book lah! You won't regret one.
^
|
|
[this "one" does NOT mean the number 1. what is it then? how did
it arise? hee hee .... ]
Chan Yew Kee@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee
Oxford English Dictionary compilers as legitimate. It's just an emphatic
way of ending a sentence or asking a question in Singaporean English, in
much the same way as "huh" in British English. It is derived from Chinese.
Chris S. <van...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:8dsnev$e94$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <38ff1...@news.cyberway.com.sg>,
> "Alvin Chan Yew Kee" <Alvin Chan Yew K...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>
>
> > * lah
>
> What kind of word is <lah> ? Is it some kind of emphatic particle? And
> where did it come from?
>
Chan Yew Kee@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee
English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
Paul Davidson <tin...@direct.ca> wrote in message
news:uT4M4.14576$H7.9...@brie.direct.ca...
> Singlish sounds like Jar Jar Binks? :)
>
>
>
> Paul Davidson
>
>
> Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
> > re: title "Nice cool Singaporean English words, not Singlish words."
> >
> > how do you distinguish between English and Singlish? where do you draw
> the
> > line?
> >
> >
> >
> > Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
> > ...> * kiasu, kiasi, kiapor (a typical trait of most Singaporeans)
> >
> >
> > there is also "kia jeng hu"
> >
> >
> > Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
> >
> > Offense Level: 0 {Normal}
> > Pronun / Tone: air-rowŻ
> > Function: (verb, transitive)
> > Domain: [Military+]
> > Explanation: to delegate, to assign somebody to some (usually
> > unpleasant) task (*)
> > Etymology: creative extension of <English>. [Similar to Cupid's
> > arrow, but this is not a labour of love.]
> > SGL1: Why don't you arrow Ahmad to do it?
> > EGL1: Why don't you delegate the task to Ahmad?
> > SGL2: Now, if no volunteer, I will arrow somebody.
> > EGL2: Now, if I have no volunteers, I shall assign somebody to
> > do the job.
> > Remarks: (*) "arrowing" can also be done in absentia - when the
> > person being "arrowed" is absent. cf: kena arrow
> >
> >
> > Entry: kana arrow
> > Pronun / Tone: ka-naŻ air-rowŻ
> > Function: (verb: passive)
> > Domain: [Military+]
> > Explanation: was/were tasked to do something, got assigned a task (*)
> > Etymology: <Malay> kena (hit) + <Singlish> arrow
> > SGL1: Sorry darling, I kana arrow by boss to do dis, so bo
bian
> > must do over-time.
> > EGL1: I'm sorry darling, I was assigned by the boss to do
this,
> > so I have no choice but to do over-time.
> > SGL2: Sundeep and Ah Seng kena arrowed to wash toilet.
> > EGL2: Sundeep and Ah Seng were tasked to wash the toilets.
> > Remarks: (*) rf: kana, arrow
> >
> >
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English (grammatical
> English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
so how do you draw the line?
let's go through some examples:-
Singlish S-English
* kiasu (this word has been "domesticated" into the English language)
my vote [ ] [/]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* kiasi
kia bor\
kia bo/
kia cheng hu
my vote [/] [ ]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* level playing field
my vote [ ] [/]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* upgrade
my vote [ ] [/]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* lah
my vote [/] [ ]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* chicken feed / chicken feat = a no-brainer, very easy task
my vote [ ] [/]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* cheapskate (debased, rather than stingy, locally)
* cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
these are your examples. please furnish us with example sentences.
* long time no see
my vote [/] [ ]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* K.P. (busybody)
my vote [/] [ ]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* sky juice
my vote [ ] [/]
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* to arrow someone (to point the finger at or to accuse someone)
please furnish us with example sentences of your definition.
the Singaporean "arrow" that I know means to "assign somebody to a
task"
* blurred (confused)
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English (grammatical
> English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
...
so how do you draw the line? one possible method of demarcation would be:-
SINGLISH (the basilect) means, prima facie, the vocabulary and syntatical
features that can be traced directly back to their roots in the
local languages (Malay, Chinese, Tamil, ...). The exceptions would
be those words and phrases that have become "domesticated" i.e.
listed in one or more of the major English dictionaries.
SINGAPOREAN ENGLISH (the acrolect) means one or more of the following
SE1 the "domesticated" words and phrases
SE2 the English as used in the media (newspaper, TV),
SE3 the English as used (or at least the standard of English
aspired to), in official documents and in political
speeches, business meetings
SE4 any idiomatic/metaphorical extension or creative usage
of already existing English words
let's go through some examples:-
Singlish S-English Reason
* kiasu
my vote [ ] [/] Hokkien, but "domesticated"
* kiasi
my vote [/] [ ] obviously Hokkien
* kia bor\
my vote [/] [ ] obviously Hokkien
* kia bo/
my vote [/] [ ] obviously Hokkien
* kia cheng hu
my vote [/] [ ] obviously Hokkien
* level playing-field
my vote [ ] [/] SE2, SE3, SE4
your vote [ ] [/]
* upgrade
my vote [ ] [/] SE2, SE3, SE4
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* chicken feed / chicken feat
= a no-brainer, very easy task
my vote [ ] [/] SE4
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* long time no see
my vote [ ] / --> [ ] calqued from Mandarin
your vote? [ ] [ ] hao/ jiuV mei/ jian\
but Ang Mos have begun
using it, because it
sounds "cute" or "cool"
* K.P. (busybody)
my vote [/] [ ] Hokkien: kay poh
your vote? [ ] [ ]
* sky juice
my vote [ ] [/] SE4: creative use of
your vote? [ ] [ ] existing English
* to arrow someone (to point the finger at or to accuse someone)
please furnish us with example sentences of your definition.
the Singaporean "arrow" that I know means to "assign somebody to a
task", like Cupid shooting arrows, except the arrows do not end up
as bonds of love, but unpleasant tasks.
my vote [ ] [/] SE4: creative use of
your vote? [ ] [ ] existing English
* blur (confused)
= confused, muddleheaded
my vote [ ] [/] SE4
e.g. Ah Seng is very blur.
* sotong (adjective)
= confused, muddleheaded, blur
my vote [/] [ ] Malay sotong (noun)
e.g. Ah Seng is very sotong.
* cheapskate (debased, rather than stingy, locally)
* cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
these are your examples. please furnish us with example sentences.
The above is one possible way of demarcation. Actually, I consider
everything to be Singlish, but on a continuum with different levels of
refinement or profanity. Level 1 is the Singlish / Singaporean English
supposed to be used by the professionals (government officials, doctors,
lawyers, judges, programmers, etc.) and that would roughly correspond to
SE1, SE2, SE3. Level 0 is the non-offensive Singlish used by the commoner,
corresponding roughly to SE4 and "Singlish" in the earlier classification.
Level -1 will be the mildly offensive or derogative language e.g. "yellow
banana", "Chinese helicopter", "kana sai" (no reference to parts of the
anatomy or family members). I have levels -2, -3 and -4 with the latter
being the most profane and racist. So here is my model of Singlish
Alvin Chan Model? Very Nice Guy Model
+ Singapore + Level 1 }
| English | }
+ + Level 0 }
| | }
| + Level -1 } all regarded
| | } as Singlish
| + Level -2 }
| Singlish | }
| + Level -3 }
| | }
+ + Level -4 }
Note: Nobody is confined to speak only at one level. For example, a
technopreneur may speak at level 1 or level 0 in office, but during
karoke sessions with friends, he operates around level 0 or level -1
with perhaps the occasional level -3 expletive.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
> much the same way as "huh" in British English. It is derived from Chinese.
AND Malay.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
--
keith lim
> Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
> > Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English (grammatical
> > English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
> so how do you draw the line? one possible method of demarcation would be:-
[snip method of demarcation]
Perhaps we need not worry too much about drawing a line between the two.
The boundary is fuzzy. Language is fluid. Usage which is Singlish today
may become Singapore English tomorrow.
For me, I like the informal understanding of the difference between the
two, which Alvin already has mentioned above. Singapore English is
grammatical. It uses some words in a different way than from 'standard'
English and also new words not used anywhere else. Singlish is
ungrammatical English. However, the key thing that makes it Singlish
rather than generic ungrammatical usage is that the incorrect syntax
comes from a word-for-word translation from a grammatical Chinese or
Malay sentence, i.e. Chinese or Malay word-ordering rules are being used
with English.
Another aspect of Singapore English/Singlish is the pronounciation of
words. Vowels are shortened ("seat" and "sit" may be pronounced the
same, or at least more similarly than would be pronounced by an English
speaker elsewhere). Voiced consonants at the end of a word get devoiced
("chicken feed" --> "chicken feet") or left out completely ("kick" -->
"ki'"; "pencil" --> "pencir").
At the sentence level, there are differences that have been noted by
linguists too, but I'm not very knowledgable on these. However, among
the differences are a overall flatter pitch to the entire sentence, i.e.
less variation in pitch; the voice stays mostly even and doesn't rise
and fall that much. It is most noticable in questions--the pitch of
voice may hardly rise at the end, if at all, so that the question sounds
more like a statement.
There's also something about rhythm being syllable-timed instead of
stress-timed. Syllable-timed means that the syllables are equally spaced
apart in time; the stressed syllables end up being irregularly spaced.
Stress-timed speech means that *stressed* syllables are equally spaced
apart in time; to achieve this, the speed of pronouncing the unstressed
syllables varies. The syllable-timed speech of Singapore English also
tends to produce less vowel weakening. Vowel weakening is the
substitution of the neutral vowel sound (called "schwa") for other vowel
sounds.
There are several books specifically about Singapore English, but
unfortunately, they tend to be academic, and do require a bit of
linguistics knowledge to understand. When talking *about* language--its
syntax, pronounciation, etc. it's hard to get away from the jargon of
linguistics and the use of a phonetic alphabet to represent exact
sounds. Truth is, they are just the systematic, formal documentation of
what regular speakers of Singapore English or Singlish already know and
use regularly.
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
"Multiple exclamation marks," he went on, shaking his head,
"are a sure sign of a diseased mind." --Terry Pratchett, _Eric_
Sophus Lefouque (M)
....
> [snip method of demarcation]
which is only a suggestion.
> Perhaps we need not worry too much about drawing a line between the two.
> The boundary is fuzzy. Language is fluid. Usage which is Singlish today
> may become Singapore English tomorrow.
agreed. the other points duly noted.
Chan Yew Kee@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee
Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
news:39030FB1...@yamashita.dontspamme...
> Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
> >
> > Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English
(grammatical
> > English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
>
>
> so how do you draw the line?
>
>
>
> Singlish S-English
>
> my vote [ ] [/]
>
> * kiasi
> kia bor\
> kia bo/
> my vote [/] [ ]
though the whole phrase I realise may not)
>
> * level playing field
> my vote [ ] [/]
>
> * upgrade
> my vote [ ] [/]
>
> * lah
> my vote [/] [ ]
recognised by OED)
>
> * chicken feed / chicken feat = a no-brainer, very easy task
> my vote [ ] [/]
>
>
> * cheapskate (debased, rather than stingy, locally)
e.g I don't want to go steady with this type of cheapskate woman who goes
around sleeping with other men.
Have some respect for yourself. Don't act so coquettish with your
husband's friends. You are making yourself out to be cheapskate.
> * cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
e.g That cheeky young man sitting on the other side of the room keeps on
staring at the breasts of the lady who is taking her soup and is making her
so self-conscious.
Susan decries R(A) movies as she think they are meant for cheeky
dirty old men who have too much time on hand to waste after retirement.
>
> these are your examples. please furnish us with example sentences.
>
> * long time no see
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [ ] [/] (Ever seen it used in subtitles
for TCS drama)
>
> * K.P. (busybody)
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [/] [ ] (Every Sg knows this but
still.......)
>
> * sky juice
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [/]
>
> * to arrow someone (to point the finger at or to accuse someone)
>
> please furnish us with example sentences of your definition.
> the Singaporean "arrow" that I know means to "assign somebody to a
> task" (Yes, but this expression is used when someone thinks he has
been unjustly treated, for example, being accused, being given a
responsibility rightly meant for others. Used showing disapproval)
E.g It is your responsibility to do the account receivable accounts. I am
only accountable for the payments and creditors. Do not arrow me for that
mistake.
This is supposed to be his job. How can you arrow me?
>
>
> * blurred (confused)
E.g Don't put it all so mechanistically. I am just a layman. Your jargons
are making me blurred.
With some many viable alternatives, I end up blurred instead of
having a clear idea of what I should do.
Chan Yew Kee@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee
learning the language. I do agree with your demarcation but your
sub-divisions are merely academic rather than necessary.
But one thing has been niggling me for a long time. How do these new words
come about? Who is actually the person who starts each of them? Why do
these words gain currency while others don't?
Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
Chan Yew Kee@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee
should be properly pronounced. I find that most Singaporeans do not know of
the existence of stresses and schwa. The mastery of which is necessary,
besides, most importantly, phonetics, for speaking good English.
keith lim <keit...@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:1e9koug.1hzfzdqifetxcN%keit...@pobox.com...
> Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
> > Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
>
> > > Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English
(grammatical
> > > English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
>
be:-
>
> Perhaps we need not worry too much about drawing a line between the two.
> The boundary is fuzzy. Language is fluid. Usage which is Singlish today
> may become Singapore English tomorrow.
>
Sophus Lefouque (M)
> > * cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
>
i vaguely remember one of my primary school English teachers using the word
this way.
...
> E.g It is your responsibility to do the account receivable accounts. I am
> only accountable for the payments and creditors. Do not arrow me for that
> mistake.
> This is supposed to be his job. How can you arrow me?
the standard English would be "to point a finger at" or to "accuse". i have
not heard of "arrow" using used this way in Singapore, but i think /also can
lah!/
> > * blurred (confused)
>
> E.g Don't put it all so mechanistically. I am just a layman. Your jargons
> are making me blurred.
> With some many viable alternatives, I end up blurred instead of
> having a clear idea of what I should do.
...
i am familiar with this usage. other examples: thanks.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> To bring in such rules as you have indicated would really spoil my fun for
> learning the language. I do agree with your demarcation but your
> sub-divisions are merely academic rather than necessary.
they are merely suggestions, not hard-and-fast rules.
> But one thing has been niggling me for a long time. How do these new words
> come about? Who is actually the person who starts each of them?
a partial answer would be the origination from the Chinese dialects and
Malay and other languages.
however, i would be hard put to identify the originator of the coinage
"sky juice". i think this term is fascinating and very creative.
> Why do these words gain currency while others don't?
some clues to this jigsaw puzzle would be:-
(1) if a term does not already exist in English, or is very difficult to
translate, it is more likely to be used e.g. "kiasu"
(2) a humourous or catchy ring in the term: "sky juice", "act blur",
"cheeminology"
(3) conciseness "long time no see" (Chinese syntax) is preferred over
"it's been ages since we met"
(4) proximity to the original Chinese or Malay idiom: "money face"
(Malay: muka duit) is preferred over "mercenary" or "venal".
...
i shall let the professional linguists take over from here.
keith lim
> If people listen to BBC regularly, they will get a hang of how English
> should be properly pronounced.
Hmmm. I find that many of the local (Singapore) newsreaders and
presenters (e.g. Talking Point, Crimewatch, various Channel NewsAsia
programmes) already have good pronounciation. By this I mean that they
distinguish vowel sounds when a difference is important (e.g. "beat" vs
"bit", "bat" vs "bet"), and don't devoice or leave out the final
consonants of words (e.g. "gold" not "golt", "ball" not "baw").
It's not so much a lack of listening, I think, but a lack of conscious
effort to produce the sounds properly. The natural inclination (for
Chinese speakers) is to make the features of English more like Chinese
(hence the shortened vowels and the devoicing or leaving out of certain
final consonants, as these are features of Chinese). In Mandarin, for
example, the only consonants that come at the end of syllables are "n"
and "ng"; everything else ends in a vowel sound. English has words that
end in "t", "l", "b", "k", and many others. It starts sounding more like
Chinese when these are dropped (or weakened). Most noticable with "l".
Listening alone may not be enough. It would take some analysis of one's
own speech to figure out the general differences, and then probably many
months of conscious effort to change one's old habits of pronounciation.
However, any speech trainer would probably be able to explain this very
quickly, though the months of practice would still be necessary.
I tend to get uncomfortable with the idea that BBC English is the
"proper" way to pronounce words, or that it is the ideal to be tried
for. Singapore English isn't necessarily inferior to BBC English, it's
just different. The vowel shortening and final consonent
devoicing/deletion may hinder understanding; on the other hand, the
syllable-based rhythm and the general lack of vowel weakening (i.e.
fewer changes of strong vowels to the schwa) makes up for it.
Singaporeans who travel overseas usually find that their Singapore
English is perfectly understandable, and that the locals in the country
they're visiting may enjoy listening to their Singapore accent.
(However, Singlish is not well understood, because the syntax is badly
fractured, and the listener has to mentally rearrange the words before
he or she can understand the phrases.)
> I find that most Singaporeans do not know of
> the existence of stresses and schwa. The mastery of which is necessary,
> besides, most importantly, phonetics, for speaking good English.
No, an understanding of stresses and vowel sounds and the mechanism by
which some of them weaken into schwas may be necessary if the person
wants to be able to speak in a convincing non-Singaporean accent (e.g.
British, American, Australian, etc.) This is *not* the same as "speaking
good English". It is just speaking in a different accent. Singapore
English is perfectly good English. The rhythm and pronounciation is
different from other Englishes, that's all. It is not bad English
*unless* you consider one particular accent (say BBC English) to be
*the* *correct* one. But that view is not held by most linguists
nowadays; they treat different accents as just different, and don't
single out any particular one as being the "best" or "model" one.
Actors should probably know about these things if they want to increase
their skills. These are probably pointed out by their speech or accent
trainers. A *bad* accent occurs when *some* of the features of another
accent are adopted (e.g. increased weakening of vowels into schwas or
increased variation in pitch), but not all (e.g. not distinguishing
between long and short vowels, not pronouncing consonants at the end of
words, etc.) For regular people, I don't really think they need to know
about stresses and schwas to make improvements in their pronounciation.
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
We use only 10% of our brain to think with.
The question is: what do we do with the other half?
keith lim
> But one thing has been niggling me for a long time. How do these new words
> come about? Who is actually the person who starts each of them? Why do
> these words gain currency while others don't?
There are entities like Time Magazine who happily invent new words and
use them. Some stick; others don't. The ones that don't get picked up
and (re)used by readers just get quietly forgotten; the ones that do
become new mainstream words.
When a previously specialised field becomes mainstream, the words that
were previously technical jargon become part of everyday speech. Desktop
publishing introduced "font", "kerning", "serifs". From the Internet,
"email", "newsgroup", "HTML", "spam". In a Singaporean context, the
thousands of NSman (who of course still remain sons, brothers,
boyfriends, or husbands) introduce "lobo", "wowo king", "throw smoke",
etc. to their female acquaintences.
When previously closed and secretive countries open up, words from those
languages enter others--"glasnost", "perestroika", "guangxi". Of course,
the meeting and sharing of cultures has been going on for centuries
already, and words cross languages--"fengshui", "curry", "amok".
And of course, new words are coined when new things are invented or
discovered--"aeroplane", "compact disc", "quark". Don't think that my
little list above is anywhere near complete; it doesn't even begin to
cover all the ways that new words enter a language (but I'm not writing
a book, so I'm not going to try to make a thorough list).
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
I never feed trolls and I don't read spam.
--"Weird Al" Yankovic, "It's All About the Pentiums"
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> (However, Singlish is not well understood, because the syntax is badly
> fractured, and the listener has to mentally rearrange the words before
> he or she can understand the phrases.)
you mean listeners who are not familiar with Chinese or Malay syntax?
e.g.s "long time no see", "quick quick eat finish lah", "I aready post de
letter aready".
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> "email", "newsgroup", "HTML", "spam". In a Singaporean context, the
> thousands of NSman (who of course still remain sons, brothers,
> boyfriends, or husbands) introduce "lobo", "wowo king", "throw smoke",
> etc. to their female acquaintences.
do you happen to know the origin of "lobo"? [i know that the term means
doing nothing much, in transit, waiting to be posted to another unit] my
friends say it is an acronym, but they have forgotten what it stands for.
"wowo" comes from doubling of the initials of "wash out" [the term
means someone with an atrocious aim, a hopeless shooter, the antithesis
of a marksman or sharpshooter]
"throw smoke" could be derived from "throwing a smokescreen" (a
legitimate English idiom) or "throwing a smoke grenade". [it means:
to bluff one's way through, to deceive, to put on a facade.
there are derivatives like "smoke kar liao", "smoke", "smokalogy"
(the science/art of bluffing)]
Bass
terms and phrases. LOBO apparently comes from "Left Out of Battle" or "Left
Out of Battalion Orders".
IMHO, the SAF is a major perpetrator of Singlish - virtually half the
population goes in learning and contributing things which they spread to the
rest of society.
@:
keith lim
> > (However, Singlish is not well understood, because the syntax is badly
> > fractured, and the listener has to mentally rearrange the words before
> > he or she can understand the phrases.)
> you mean listeners who are not familiar with Chinese or Malay syntax?
> e.g.s "long time no see", "quick quick eat finish lah", "I aready post de
> letter aready".
Yes, that's right, thanks. I did imply it in the sentence I wrote
immediately before the one you quoted, though. Here are both those
sentences together:
Singaporeans who travel overseas usually find that their Singapore
English is perfectly understandable, and that the locals in the
country they're visiting may enjoy listening to their Singapore
accent. (However, Singlish is not well understood, because the syntax
is badly fractured, and the listener has to mentally rearrange the
words before he or she can understand the phrases.)
What I had in mind when I said "overseas" were countries where English
was spoken as a native language and with a significantly different
accent and vocabulary set (England, USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, etc.) Of course, I should have been more specific. If the
overseas people happen to know Chinese or Malay syntax (and are more
fluent in these languages than English), then Singlish may well be more
easily understandable than grammatical English.
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Michael Chiang's "Army Daze" attributes to the SAF a whole lot of Singlish
> terms and phrases. LOBO apparently comes from "Left Out of Battle" or "Left
> Out of Battalion Orders".
thanks for this one.
> IMHO, the SAF is a major perpetrator of Singlish - virtually half the
> population goes in learning and contributing things which they spread to the
> rest of society.
indeed, i have 50 military-derived Singlish in my database. there must be
more, but some of the lingo may be classified.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> Yes, that's right, thanks. I did imply it in the sentence I wrote
nothing serious. and nothing beats the Jabberwocky.
I visited your website. 'Twas brillig.
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
* little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
physical limitation)
* LOBO (SAF slang to mean in transit, waiting for job allocation)
* kiasu (afraid of losing out to others)
* outstation (on a field assignment)
* wake up to your ideas (SAF slang for not dreaming or to concentrate on
your work at hand)
* on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
* catch no balls (informal usage, don't understand)
* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
* great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
otherwise)
* new economy (new way of doing things)
* crocodile (from Malay "buaya", a macho man)
* lah (acceptable interjection to modify the tone of expressions)
* tsaikovsky (from Mandarin "chai-er-fu-si-ji", a chauffeur, especially
as a girl's date)
* number 9 (from Tamil, a gay, a transvestite or a person of dubious
sexual orientation)
* no cure (a rejection of an apology)
* smoke / fly kite / eat snake (to malinger smartly so as not to be
caught idling)
* heartlanders (ordinary citizens as opposed to
* cosmopolitans (globe-trobbing professionals)
* noisy voices outside (foreign criticisms of Singaporean policies)
* stone / steam (sexually aroused)
* loaded (get rich suddenly e.g. struck toto or made a pile at shares)
* ponteng (adopted from Malay, to play truant or get MC once in a while)
* blur(red) (local mod. form for confused)
* cheapskate (local mod. form for low-class)
* obiang (adopted from Hokkien, low-class or vulgar taste)
* ulu (Malay; far from the city, in limbo)
* lobang (Hokkien, connections)
* cute (local mod. form to mean adorable but ugly)
* chop (to stamp)
* chope (to reserve seat(s) for friend(s) )
* stylo (smartly fashionable)
* arrow (to delegate duties or to accuse)
* - king/queen (someone of a typical trait e.g. complain king, MC queen
etc)
* auntie (a general address for accosting female strangers, regardless of
age)
* uncle (a general address for accosting male strangers, regardless of
age)
* ah-beng (males with unwesternised and unsophisticated trait)
* ah-lian (the female counterpart of ah-beng)
* sky juice (informal word for water, especially for ordering)
* Old Harry (jocular term for senior minister)
* and so on and so forth (common local usage for etc)
* Little India (Serangoon where many Indians reside)
* abang attitude (Malay; to refer to the superiorcilious attitude of
Malaysia towards Singapore)
* the next leap (progress)
* upgrade (to improve - for education, housing etc)
* rojak (Malay; fusion, used negatively)
* fusion (combination of two features into something new, used
positively. e.g fusion cuisine)
* handsome (an affectionate term for a male friend or buddy)
* banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
cultural/lingustic heritage)
* cheena (old-fashioned Chinese way)
* helicopter (a cheena person, esp to label the Chinese-educated by the
English-educated)
* killer litter (object flung illegally from high-rise flat)
* mamasan (procuress)
* papasan (procuror)
* duck (homosexual prostitute)
* talk cock (a very offensive term for talking nonsense)
* go - (to go for a - meal e.g go Mac, go Thai etc)
* Can (a colloquial term for Cantonese)
* expensive toilet paper (jocular term for paper qualifications)
* what talking you? (rude expression for what are you talking about?)
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> * little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
> physical limitation)
you must mention "HaeBiBi" ("Hae Bi" pounded dried prawn) the originator
of the expression
:-)
> * crocodile (from Malay "buaya", a macho man)
i thought it means Romeo or Cassanova?
> * smoke / fly kite / eat snake (to malinger smartly so as not to be
> caught idling)
smoke = bluff, deceive, throw smokescreen, put up a facade
fly kite = as in "go and fly kite!" (i think it is an Americanism and a
euphemism for some 4-lettered word that starts with 'f' and
ends with 'k')
eat snake = to be lazy
the correct Singlish term "to malinger smartly so as not to be caught
idling" is "take cover tactically"
take cover = to "eat snake" in a concealed manner
tactically = to do something or move in a hush manner that is not easily
detected by "the enemy"
...
> * lobang (Hokkien, connections)
from Malay lubang (hole -> business avenues, connections)
...
> * stylo (smartly fashionable)
as in "stylo milo"
...
> * rojak (Malay; fusion, used negatively)
... smorgasbord, melange, hodgepodge, mishmash, potpourri ...
...
> * Can (a colloquial term for Cantonese)
this is a little strange - it would clash with things like "can or not?"
"gimme a can of coke, can?"
so gimme an example of this usage, can?
Karl Reinhardt
have never even been near Singapore, and for sixty years have used:
on the ball,
long time no see (it was popular among elementary school kids in the
40's),
and so on and so forth.
These are completely familiar expressions to me, and I
suppose, to any American (and maybe English person?).
Karl
Brian M. Scott
Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
Some of these are almost certainly not Singaporean in origin. Off the
top of my head:
>* level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
Now widespread, but I think originally British.
>* on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
I grew up with it in the U.S.
>* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
I grew up with it in the U.S.
>* upgrade (to improve - for education, housing etc)
Now widespread.
Brian M. Scott
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> On Mon, 1 May 2000 12:38:19 +0800, "Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey
> Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
> R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>
> Some of these are almost certainly not Singaporean in origin. Off the
> top of my head:
how about these:-
"fly kite"
"drop off" to let somebody alight. e.g. "I'll drop you off at the
MacDonald's"
i think they are American.
>* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
> I grew up with it in the U.S.
interesting - this 4-word concoction is very Chinese. cf. Chinese-Mandarin
hao/ jiuV bu\ jian\
it must have been spread by the Chinese immigrants in America
Peter T. Daniels
> how about these:-
>
> "fly kite"
??
You can fly a kite on a level playing field (as long as there's wind); to tell someont
to quit bothering you, you sat "Go fly a kite." Imperative only.
> >* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
> > I grew up with it in the U.S.
>
> interesting - this 4-word concoction is very Chinese. cf. Chinese-Mandarin
> hao/ jiuV bu\ jian\
>
> it must have been spread by the Chinese immigrants in America
Mock Chinese pidgin.
--
Peter T. Daniels gram...@worldnet.att.net
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
(*) waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
(*) nada (Spanish; nothing)
(*) gua (Hokkien; informal word for guy e.g. who is this gua in the
photo?)
(*) Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
(*) geylang (implying red-light district)
(*) Desker Road (implying transvestites or transsexuals)
> * level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
>
> * little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
> physical limitation)
>
> * LOBO (SAF slang to mean in transit, waiting for job allocation)
>
> * kiasu (afraid of losing out to others)
>
> * outstation (on a field assignment)
>
> * wake up to your ideas (SAF slang for not dreaming or to concentrate
on
> your work at hand)
>
> * on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
>
> * catch no balls (informal usage, don't understand)
>
> * long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
>
> * great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
> otherwise)
>
> * new economy (new way of doing things)
>
> * crocodile (from Malay "buaya", a macho man)
>
> * lah (acceptable interjection to modify the tone of expressions)
>
> * tsaikovsky (from Mandarin "chai-er-fu-si-ji", a chauffeur, especially
> as a girl's date)
>
> * number 9 (from Tamil, a gay, a transvestite or a person of dubious
> sexual orientation)
>
> * no cure (a rejection of an apology)
>
> * smoke / fly kite / eat snake (to malinger smartly so as not to be
> caught idling)
>
> * upgrade (to improve - for education, housing etc)
>
> * rojak (Malay; fusion, used negatively)
>
> * fusion (combination of two features into something new, used
> positively. e.g fusion cuisine)
>
> * handsome (an affectionate term for a male friend or buddy)
>
> * banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
> cultural/lingustic heritage)
>
> * cheena (old-fashioned Chinese way)
>
> * helicopter (a cheena person, esp to label the Chinese-educated by the
> English-educated)
>
> * killer litter (object flung illegally from high-rise flat)
>
> * mamasan (procuress)
>
> * papasan (procuror)
>
> * duck (homosexual prostitute)
>
> * talk cock (a very offensive term for talking nonsense)
>
> * go - (to go for a - meal e.g go Mac, go Thai etc)
>
> * Can (a colloquial term for Cantonese)
>
Bass
You also confuse words with name-association, e.g., Geylang, Desker Road.
And by the way, you missed out "void deck".
@:
Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of
11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote in message
news:390e3...@news.cyberway.com.sg...
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
(*) to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
off here since I have to rush to work)
(*) like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful than
Miss World." "Like real.")
(*) to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
(*) where got time? (a stock excuse for not taking on a new activity e.g
"Do you want to learn French?" "Where got time?")
(*) chiminology (Hokkien derived; any abstruse theory)
(*) so what? (sour-grape comment)
(*) action (pretentious)
(*) to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
(*) name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
(*) Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
* waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
* nada (Spanish; nothing)
* gua (Hokkien; informal word for guy e.g. who is this gua in the
photo?)
* Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
* geylang (implying red-light district)
* Desker Road (implying transvestites or transsexuals)
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
(*) void deck (the common area under a block of flats)
(*) to shake legs (to idle due to joblessness or sinecure; derived from
Malay's "goyang kaki)
(*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
(which is fast shattered) )
(*) - challenged (politically correct euphemisims for physical oddities
e.g vertically-challenged means short; horizontally-challenged fat)
(*) FOC (free of charge)
(*) ROD (run-out-date. Can be used as a verb e.g. When did you ROD?)
(*) very on (SAF slang; very work-conscientious)
(*) underachiever (euphemism for a student who lags behinds others
academically)
(*) smoke (besides meaning to malinger unobtrusively, can also mean to
give very general out-of-text answers in exams, especially for certain
subjects such as human resource etc)
* to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
off here since I have to rush to work)
* like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful than
Miss World." "Like real.")
* to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
* where got time? (a stock excuse for not taking on a new activity e.g
"Do you want to learn French?" "Where got time?")
* chiminology (Hokkien derived; any abstruse theory)
* so what? (sour-grape comment)
* action (pretentious)
* to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
* name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
* Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
* waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
* nada (Spanish; nothing)
* gua (Hokkien; informal word for guy e.g. who is this gua in the
photo?)
* Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
* level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
keith lim
"Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew
Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
> * level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
[snip rest of entries]
I don't like to discourage people from compiling interesting (and
potentially very useful) lists of language usage, but it is *not* too
much to *insist* that such efforts be properly researched. If not, their
usefulness, to say nothing of their credibility, tends to be greatly
reduced.
This list, in its current form, shows all the signs of being very poorly
researched (and possibly not at all). The very first entry is already
inaccurate ("level playing field" is certainly not a phrase enjoying
Singapore-only usage). Several of the subsequent entries ("outstation",
"long time no see", "upgrade", "fusion") are equally inappropriately
included. A number of terms ("little red dot", "heartlanders/
cosmopolitans", "noisy voices outside", "the next leap") are extremely
recent turns of phrase used by various politicians; it's way too soon to
declare them part of local usage. Many of the given definitions are
rather dubious, if not grossly inaccurate i.e. they don't accurately
represent the regular, actual usage of the term as used by Singaporeans
(definitions for "lobo", "wake up to[sic] your ideas", "cute",
"auntie/uncle", "lobang" [this even identified as Hokkien]).
It's not all bad. There's some good stuff in the list--it shows
potential--but it is so outweighed by so much other bad entries that the
list as a whole is of little value, at this time, in its current
version.
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
(*) shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
(*) unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
since caught on for awhile)
(*) 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
(*) ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
* to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
off here since I have to rush to work)
* like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful than
Miss World." "Like real.")
* to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
* where got time? (a stock excuse for not taking on a new activity e.g
"Do you want to learn French?" "Where got time?")
* chiminology (Hokkien derived; any abstruse theory)
* so what? (sour-grape comment)
* action (pretentious)
* to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
* name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
* Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
* waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
* nada (Spanish; nothing)
* gua (Hokkien; informal word for guy e.g. who is this gua in the
photo?)
* Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
* geylang (implying red-light district)
* Desker Road (implying transvestites or transsexuals)
* level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
* little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
(*) TCM (traditional chinese medicine)
(*) sinseh (doctor schooled in TCM)
* shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
* unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
since caught on for awhile)
* 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
* ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
Bass
What about new & unique meanings to otherwise ordinary English-language
words?
"Bungalow" for example comes from India and has been appropriated into the
English language. However it is only in Singapore that a bungalow connotes
ostentatious living, and actually has more than one storey.
Is this a new "word" or just a unique meaning?
@:
Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of
11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote in message
news:390e4...@news.cyberway.com.sg...
Sophus Lefouque (M)
> ...
how about "catch up with you later?" as in
I am busy now. I'll catch up with you later.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Hell a lot of these are decidedly NOT Singaporean or even Asian in origin.
> You also confuse words with name-association, e.g., Geylang, Desker Road.
because these places have certain connotations, i.e. they are places to go
"cheonging", their meanings will be well understood at mere mention of them.
they have become like trademarks like Walkman, Discman. Desker Road even
has a euphemism - "Dunken Robert"
"cheonging" - that's another one for you, Alvin
"Dunken Robert" - and another one
> And by the way, you missed out "void deck".
i've got that in my Singlish database. it has over 2000 entries now.
--
Very Nice Guy (Magix Version), Singapore
----------------------------------------------------------
If le lumber increase le log oso increase.
i listen to ladio, le locter like to eat le lewlian
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
soon you will realise that you will need a tool, e.g. a database program, to
organise your collection. so compiling a dictionary, even just a word-list,
is no easy task if you set out to do it.
--
Very Nice Guy (Magix Version), Singapore
----------------------------------------------------------
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
[A] Singaporean English words (not necessarily originating from here but
they give our English a local flavour or identity either through the words
themselves or their change in meaning)
[B] Disputed/unclear
[C] Singlish, broken English, words for fun in everyday situations. Usu.
Malay/dialects/Mandarin etc
(*)[A] guru (Malay; expert.)
(*)[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
(*)[A] run amuck/amok (Malay; run berserk)
(*)[A] to close one eye (to connive; to pretend not to see anything bad
happening)
(*)[A] to carry balls/ to score points (to curry favour)
(*)[A] snowball (to accumulate)
(*)[C] RTS (Contraction of Radio TV Station but actually roam the street.
It means being out of job and loitering around)
(*)[C] CW (Mandarin; colour wolf from "se lang" to refer to a lecher)
(*)[C] Dajiaqumaiya (Mandarin; nickname for Takashimaya)
(*)[C] dry swimming (mahjong session)
*[A] TCM (traditional chinese medicine)
*[A] sinseh (doctor schooled in TCM)
*[A] shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
*[A] unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
since caught on for awhile)
*[A] 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
*[A] ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
*[A] to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
off here since I have to rush to work)
*[A] like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful
than
Miss World." "Like real.")
*[A] to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
*[A] where got time? (a stock excuse for not taking on a new activity e.g
"Do you want to learn French?" "Where got time?")
*[C] chiminology (Hokkien derived; any abstruse theory)
*[A] so what? (sour-grape comment)
*[B] action (pretentious)
*[B] to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
*[B] name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
*[B] Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
*[B] waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
*[B] nada (Spanish; nothing)
*[C] gua (Hokkien; informal word for guy e.g. who is this gua in the
photo?)
*[A] Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
*[A] geylang (implying red-light district)
*[A] Desker Road (implying transvestites or transsexuals)
*[A] level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
*[A] little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
physical limitation)
*[B] LOBO (SAF slang to mean in transit, waiting for job allocation)
*[A] kiasu (afraid of losing out to others)
*[A] outstation (on a field assignment)
*[A] wake up your ideas (SAF slang for not dreaming or to concentrate
on your work at hand)
*[A] on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
*[C] catch no balls (informal usage, don't understand)
*[A] long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
*[A] great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
otherwise)
*[A] new economy (new way of doing things)
*[B] crocodile (from Malay "buaya", a macho man)
*[A] lah (acceptable interjection to modify the tone of expressions)
*[C] tsaikovsky (from Mandarin "chai-er-fu-si-ji", a chauffeur,
especially
as a girl's date)
*[C] number 9 (from Tamil, a gay, a transvestite or a person of dubious
sexual orientation)
*[C] no cure (a rejection of an apology)
*[B] smoke / fly kite / eat snake (to malinger smartly so as not to be
caught idling)
*[A] heartlanders (ordinary citizens as opposed to
*[A] cosmopolitans (globe-trobbing professionals)
*[B] noisy voices outside (foreign criticisms of Singaporean policies)
*[A] stone / steam (sexually aroused)
*[A] loaded (get rich suddenly e.g. struck toto or made a pile at shares)
*[C] ponteng (adopted from Malay, to play truant or get MC once in a
while)
*[B] blur(red) (local mod. form for confused)
*[B] cheapskate (local mod. form for low-class)
*[C] obiang (adopted from Hokkien, low-class or vulgar taste)
*[C] ulu (Malay; far from the city, in limbo)
*[C] lobang (Malay, connections)
*[B] cute (local mod. form to mean adorable but ugly)
*[C] chop (to stamp)
*[C] chope (to reserve seat(s) for friend(s) )
*[C] stylo (smartly fashionable)
*[B] arrow (to delegate duties or to accuse)
*[C] - king/queen (someone of a typical trait e.g. complain king, MC
queen
etc)
*[C] auntie (a general address for accosting female strangers, regardless
of age)
*[C] uncle (a general address for accosting male strangers, regardless of
age)
*[A] ah-beng (males with unwesternised and unsophisticated trait)
*[A] ah-lian (the female counterpart of ah-beng)
*[A] sky juice (informal word for water, especially for ordering)
*[B] Old Harry (jocular term for senior minister)
*[A] and so on and so forth (common local usage for etc)
*[A] Little India (Serangoon where many Indians reside)
*[A] abang attitude (Malay; to refer to the superiorcilious attitude of
Malaysia towards Singapore)
*[A] the next leap (progress)
*[A] upgrade (to improve - for education, housing etc)
*[C] rojak (Malay; fusion, used negatively)
*[A] fusion (combination of two features into something new, used
positively. e.g fusion cuisine)
*[C] handsome (an affectionate term for a male friend or buddy)
*[A] banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
cultural/lingustic heritage)
*[A] cheena (old-fashioned Chinese way)
*[C] helicopter (a cheena person, esp to label the Chinese-educated by
the
English-educated)
*[A] killer litter (object flung illegally from high-rise flat)
*[C] mamasan (procuress)
*[C] papasan (procuror)
*[C] duck (homosexual prostitute)
*[C] talk cock (a very offensive term for talking nonsense)
*[B] go - (to go for a - meal e.g go Mac, go Thai etc)
*[A] Can (a colloquial term for Cantonese)
*[B] expensive toilet paper (jocular term for paper qualifications)
*[C] what talking you? (rude expression for what are you talking about?)
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
[A] Singaporean English words (not necessarily originating from here but
they give our English a local flavour or identity either through the words
themselves or their change in meaning)
[B] Disputed/unclear
[C] Singlish, broken English, words for fun in everyday situations. Usu.
Malay/dialects/Mandarin etc
(*)[B] top dog (jocular term for Dr Mahathir. First used by ST and
caused a stir across the strait. Top dogs to refer to the top Malaysian
politicians)
(*)[A] ACDC (Anti-Christ, double cross. Bisexual)
(*)[A] TGIF (Thank God/goodness it's Friday. A pat on the back on a
Friday for the impending weekend break)
(*)[C] money no enough (not enough money. From a local movie)
(*)[A] SNAG (sensitive new age guy/gentleman. A man who is considered
very modern because he helps around in the house and allows women to have
the same opportunities as men. Also New Man)
(*)[A] free lunch (1. usu. used neg. e.g. There is no free lunch in this
world. Either you pay $2.00 or give up your account. It means nothing is
for free. 2. refreshment 3 an office meal treated by someone else e.g
promotional treat)
(*)[B] The Queen of Caldecott (Zoe Tay, popular TCS actress)
(*)[A] Presentable (to avoid saying "beautiful" or "handsome")
(*)[A] Not bad (An uncommitted reply to a question on how well someone
or something is. More polite than so-so. E.g "Do you find Fann Wong a good
actress?" "Not bad.")
(*)[A] Look who is talking (A rebuttal to insincere flattery or
unwarranted criticism. E.g. "Your English pronounciation is very lousy,
you know." "Look who is talking. Do you teach English?")
*[A] guru (Malay; expert.)
*[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
*[A] run amuck/amok (Malay; run berserk)
*[A] to close one eye (to connive; to pretend not to see anything bad
happening)
*[A] to carry balls/ to score points (to curry favour)
*[A] snowball (to accumulate)
*[C] RTS (Contraction of Radio TV Station but actually roam the street.
It means being out of job and loitering around)
*[C] CW (Mandarin; colour wolf from "se lang" to refer to a lecher)
*[C] Dajiaqumaiya (Mandarin; nickname for Takashimaya)
*[C] dry swimming (mahjong session)
Cheesy Poofs
Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of
11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote in message
WAH LAU!!! --> can qualify?
Set --> as in ... "Let's go watch Galaxy Quest" "OK, set!"
See Show --> catch a movie (direct translation from Hokkien "kua hee")
--
Cheesy Poofs
"Sex is a Texas drought"
Steve Sundberg
Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
>* level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
That's not uniquely Singaporean. It may be overused in Singapore, but
is not of Singapore origin.
>* outstation (on a field assignment)
More probably British in origin, from its colonial days.
>* on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
American. Specifically, baseball. A good infielder's trait is to be
"on the ball."
>* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
I know I was saying that from at least 1970 when I was living in
Japan. We'd loosely translate "shiburaku desune^" as "long time, no
see."
>* great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
>otherwise)
American, again. Actually refers to the alleged gap between the rich
who have access to the Internet and the poor who do not.
>* new economy (new way of doing things)
Are you sure? I recall seeing magazine covers in the US as far back as
1998 touting a "new economy."
>* cosmopolitans (globe-trobbing professionals)
Must be why Cosmopolitan magazine has been published in Singapore all
these years. ;)
>* loaded (get rich suddenly e.g. struck toto or made a pile at shares)
Not particularly of Singaporean origin. The word has been used with
the same connotation for decades elsewhere, but can also mean that
someone is really, really drunk.
>* fusion (combination of two features into something new, used
>positively. e.g fusion cuisine)
Hardly Singaporean. "Fusion cuisine," especially, has been used
descriptively for at least a decade on the US West Coast to identify
various food trends.
>* banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
>cultural/lingustic heritage)
Japanese-Americans were using the term in the 1970's to describe
themselves.
_.,-*'`^`'*-,.__.,-*'`^`'*-,.__.,-*'`^`'*-,._
It's been Oolong time, my Darjeeling Jasmine, dee...@mm.com
since we've had some Tea together. webm...@straitscafe.com
_.,-*'`^`'*-,.__.,-*'`^`'*-,.__.,-*'`^ http://www.sundberg.tc
Affordable Website Design & Maintenance | http://www.eggsco.com
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
they give our English a local flavour or identity either through the words
themselves or their change in meaning)
[B] Disputed/unclear
[C] Singlish, broken English, words for fun in everyday situations. Usu.
Malay/dialects/Mandarin etc
*[C] to wear green hat (to be made a cuckold. From Mandarin's
dai-lü-mao-zi
*[C] K / gran (thousand)
*[C] that one/thing (oblique reference to sex. e.g. He always likes to
talk about that thing. Comes from Mandarin's na-ge)
*[C] like that (in this manner usu used neg. esp in "why are you (so)
like that?" or "don't be like that lah)
*[A] talking to the wall (talking with no one listening/paying attention)
*[B] cheesy (the term used to describe the body odour of westerners)
*[C] redhair (transliterated from Hokkien's ang moh to mean westerner)
*[A] outstanding (used sarcastically for a person being very different or
doing something different. E.g "So sad, I am the only person to fail the
paper." "How come this time you are so outstanding?)
*[A] The 5 Cs (The ideal rich lifestyle; The ideal Singaporean dream.
Car, Condo, Credit card, Career, Country Club. Can be 6 Cs to include
cash.)
*[C] No money no talk (Phrase to sum up the materialistic attitude of Sg)
*[A] see (used liberally instead of watch or consult e.g see show, see
doctor. From Chinese)
*[A] available (around. Commonly used when answering calls and the
person concerned is not around)
*[A] catch up with someone later (attend to you later)
*[B] top dog (jocular term for Dr Mahathir. First used by ST and
caused a stir across the strait. Top dogs to refer to the top Malaysian
politicians)
*[A] ACDC (Anti-Christ, double cross. Bisexual)
*[A] TGIF (Thank God/goodness it's Friday. A pat on the back on a
Friday for the impending weekend break)
*[C] money no enough (not enough money. From a local movie)
*[A] SNAG (sensitive new age guy/gentleman. A man who is considered
very modern because he helps around in the house and allows women to have
the same opportunities as men. Also New Man)
*[A] free lunch (1. usu. used neg. e.g. There is no free lunch in this
world. Either you pay $2.00 or give up your account. It means nothing is
for free. 2. refreshment 3 an office meal treated by someone else e.g
promotional treat)
*[B] The Queen of Caldecott (Zoe Tay, popular TCS actress)
*[A] Presentable (to avoid saying "beautiful" or "handsome")
*[A] Not bad (An uncommitted reply to a question on how well someone
or something is. More polite than so-so. E.g "Do you find Fann Wong a good
actress?" "Not bad.")
*[A] Look who is talking (A rebuttal to insincere flattery or
*[B] action (pretentious)
*[A] long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
*[A] great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
otherwise)
*[A] new economy (new way of doing things)
*[A] fusion (combination of two features into something new, used
positively. e.g fusion cuisine)
*[C] handsome (an affectionate term for a male friend or buddy)
*[A] banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
cultural/lingustic heritage)
*[A] cheena (old-fashioned Chinese way)
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>>
>>* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
>> I grew up with it in the U.S.
>
>interesting - this 4-word concoction is very Chinese. cf. Chinese-Mandarin
>hao/ jiuV bu\ jian\
>
>it must have been spread by the Chinese immigrants in America
A more likely source would be the Amerind, or at least Amerind-English
as spoken by Hollywood actors. I believe the origin of phrase came
from its use in "The Lone Ranger" TV series. Certainly sounds like
something Tonto would've said.
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>
>how about "catch up with you later?" as in
>
> I am busy now. I'll catch up with you later.
Not SIngaporean. Variations also include "catching up on homework,"
"catching up on my sleep," and "catching up with the news."
Steve Sundberg
>New entries: (*)
>
>(*) to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
>off here since I have to rush to work)
Not Singaporean in origin.
>(*) like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful than
>Miss World." "Like real.")
US West Coast origin. Think "Valley Girl."
>(*) to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
Not Singaporean. The phrase is actually a euphemism for sexual
intercourse, and is gender-biased. Whoever is doing the "screwing" is
in control and, in this connotation, can make life very unpleasant. A
similar phrase, also a sexual euphemism, is "getting nailed."
>(*) so what? (sour-grape comment)
Not Singaporean.
>(*) to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
An incorrect deviation from the original "to out-psyche someone," and
"I'm getting psyched." "Psycho" is used when describing a person who
is psychotic.
>(*) name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
>
>(*) Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
Neither of these are uniquely, or originally, Singaporean. We also say
"holiday Chrisitian" to describe someone who only attends church for
holidays (Christmas, Easter).
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
Steve Sundberg? I get confused over the two at times though I know the
latter is more serious/sober and the former wacky) has claimed he has
thousands of entries. Also, this is a rather unsystematic compilation. I
should have put them under "English", "Hokkien", "Malay" and "Mandarin and
others" and alphabetise them. Anyway, do you think all these words will
drop away since we are having this Speak Good English drive and many people
may just start to think it is only right to speak the "true international"
English?
*[A] to drop off (to let someone taking a ride alight e.g. I'll drop you
off here since I have to rush to work)
*[A] like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful
than
Miss World." "Like real.")
*[A] to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
Steve Sundberg
>
>(*) to shake legs (to idle due to joblessness or sinecure; derived from
>Malay's "goyang kaki)
The use in this manner may certainly be Singaporean. But if you (a
man) were to say to an American you're going to "shake a leg," you'd
be saying you're going to urinate. The description is derived from
what a male dog does after it pees. That's right, it shakes a leg.
>(*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
>(which is fast shattered) )
Used first in the 1980's to describe Japanese cradle-to-grave
employment. Btw, iron doesn't shatter.
>(*) - challenged (politically correct euphemisims for physical oddities
>e.g vertically-challenged means short; horizontally-challenged fat)
Oh, please. Next you'll be saying GCT was the first to say "kinder,
gentler nation." This is classic late-80's PC from the US. To say
someone is "challenged" is thought to be a more positive way of saying
someone is "disabled."
>(*) FOC (free of charge)
An old acronym. At least as old as SNAFU.
>(*) underachiever (euphemism for a student who lags behinds others
>academically)
Definently not Singapore in origin. The word has been used for decades
elsewhere to describe student behavior.
Steve Sundberg
wrote:
>
>"Bungalow" for example comes from India and has been appropriated into the
>English language. However it is only in Singapore that a bungalow connotes
>ostentatious living, and actually has more than one storey.
Bungalows in the US can have more than one story, though the classic
1930's-era bungalow usually had up to only 1-1/2 stories.
Steve Sundberg
>New entries: (*)
>
>(*) shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
>shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
Oh, please. You're really turning yourself into a laughingstock with
this one. How can you possibly believe the word "shillings" is of
Singaore origin?
>(*) 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
Not Singaporean in the least.
>(*) ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
Ditto.
Steve Sundberg
>New entries: (*)
>
>(*)[B] top dog (jocular term for Dr Mahathir. First used by ST and
>caused a stir across the strait. Top dogs to refer to the top Malaysian
>politicians)
First used outside of Singapore. "He's the top dog" means the person
is the boss, the head of the pack.
>(*)[A] ACDC (Anti-Christ, double cross. Bisexual)
AC/DC, as a sexual description, has been used for decades elsewhere.
It refers specifically to two varieties of electric current.
>(*)[A] TGIF (Thank God/goodness it's Friday. A pat on the back on a
>Friday for the impending weekend break)
Very much *not* Singaporean in origin. The term was in wide use in the
US by the late 70's, so much so that there is a chain of restaurants
bearing the name that have been built worldwide. The TGIF restaurants
were among the first of what used to called "fern bars," places where
young adults would gather after work that were distinctly unlike the
regular bars and saloons then in existence. They literally had ferns
hanging from the ceiling.
"TGIF" has also been used by ABC-TV in the US for a decade to describe
their Friday night show lineup.
>(*)[A] free lunch (1. usu. used neg. e.g. There is no free lunch in this
>world. Either you pay $2.00 or give up your account. It means nothing is
>for free. 2. refreshment 3 an office meal treated by someone else e.g
>promotional treat)
Not Singaporean, either. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" has
been used extensively for years elsewhere.
>(*)[A] Presentable (to avoid saying "beautiful" or "handsome")
US/British in origin. In the US, the word was originally used to
describe debutantes. The definition has since been expanded to include
men.
>(*)[A] Not bad (An uncommitted reply to a question on how well someone
>or something is. More polite than so-so. E.g "Do you find Fann Wong a good
>actress?" "Not bad.")
The use of "not bad" is not originally Singapore.
>(*)[A] Look who is talking (A rebuttal to insincere flattery or
>unwarranted criticism. E.g. "Your English pronounciation is very lousy,
>you know." "Look who is talking. Do you teach English?")
Not SIngaporean, either.
>*[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
I had heard it was of Hong Kong origin.
>*[A] snowball (to accumulate)
How can this possibly have a Singaporean origin if snow doesn't even
exist there? The term refers to the literal effect of rolling snow
down a hill, i.e. the snowball gets bigger and bigger.
Peter T. Daniels
>
> New entries: (*)
Could you stop reprinting all the old entries?
> (*) void deck (the common area under a block of flats)
Not US (in Chicago, this kind of architecture -- maybe -- is called a "4+1":
four levels of apartments (flats) over a parking area that's open to the
street)
> (*) to shake legs (to idle due to joblessness or sinecure; derived from
> Malay's "goyang kaki)
Not US; "shake a leg" means 'get moving', quit being lazy'
> (*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
> (which is fast shattered) )
Not US
> (*) - challenged (politically correct euphemisims for physical oddities
> e.g vertically-challenged means short; horizontally-challenged fat)
Very popular in US
> (*) FOC (free of charge)
I don't know this, but no reason to suppose it isn't used here. Reminds me of
the adjective in Chinese-American slang FOB 'fresh off the boat' -- new
immigrant not yet wise to the ways of the New World. Plays off FOB 'free on
board', which has to do with import duties or some such
> (*) ROD (run-out-date. Can be used as a verb e.g. When did you ROD?)
Not US
> (*) very on (SAF slang; very work-conscientious)
Not US
> (*) underachiever (euphemism for a student who lags behinds others
> academically)
Standard English; not a euphemism but a technical term from psychology that
moved into pop psychology
> (*) smoke (besides meaning to malinger unobtrusively, can also mean to
> give very general out-of-text answers in exams, especially for certain
> subjects such as human resource etc)
Don't know it; may be current college slang
Peter T. Daniels
>
> On Tue, 2 May 2000 12:03:53 +0800, "Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey
> Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
> R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>
> >New entries: (*)
> >
> >shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
>
> Oh, please. You're really turning yourself into a laughingstock with
> this one. How can you possibly believe the word "shillings" is of
> Singaore origin?
But no shillings in the US; we say "change for a dollar." Is "shillings
of a ---" used in UK?
>
> >(*) 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
>
> Not Singaporean in the least.
>
> >(*) ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
>
> Ditto.
Not confined to writing; pronounced /ey es ey piy/
Richard Herring
> Steve Sundberg wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 2 May 2000 12:03:53 +0800, "Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey
> > Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
> > R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
> >
> > >New entries: (*)
> > >
> > >(*) shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
> > >shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
> >
> > Oh, please. You're really turning yourself into a laughingstock with
> > this one. How can you possibly believe the word "shillings" is of
> > Singaore origin?
> But no shillings in the US; we say "change for a dollar." Is "shillings
> of a ---" used in UK?
No. "Have you got[1] change for X?" would be usual. I doubt if
"shilling" is still used in any context except the strength
of Scottish ales.
[1] British English still (just about) preserves a distinction between
the habitual "do you have?" and the immediate "have you got?".
"Do you have six-inch rigging screws?"
"Yes, but they're out of stock."
- versus -
"Have you any six-inch rigging screws?"
"No, but I shall have some more on Thursday".
--
Richard Herring | <richard...@gecm.com>
mith...@indiana.edu
"Peter T. Daniels" wrote:
> Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd wrote:
>
> > (*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
> > (which is fast shattered) )
>
> Not US
It's a common term in the PRC, used in the debates over Reform and the Open Door
policies (gaige kaifang), for assured employment and pensions under Chinese
socialism. It dates back to the early 80s at least, I think. In Mandarin it's
"tie fanwar," I think.
> > (*) very on (SAF slang; very work-conscientious)
>
> Not US
Sounds British, and somewhat familiar. MAT
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>
>as if.
>^
>|
>|
>+------- what about this one?
A Briton would complain it was an example of American English (i.e. it
was improperly used), if it were used all by its' lonesome self.
Steve Sundberg
<gram...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Steve Sundberg wrote:
>>
>> Oh, please. You're really turning yourself into a laughingstock with
>> this one. How can you possibly believe the word "shillings" is of
>> Singaore origin?
>
>But no shillings in the US; we say "change for a dollar." Is "shillings
>of a ---" used in UK?
I would imagine so, because that's where shillings were minted. I
don't recall shillings ever being a Singapore coin.
Steve Sundberg
Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>So, that's the end of my compiling coz someone (is it Sophus Lefouque or
>Steve Sundberg? I get confused over the two at times though I know the
>latter is more serious/sober and the former wacky) has claimed he has
>thousands of entries.
Not I.
But, if I were you, I would seriously consider studying linguistics
before embarking on your voyage. You would discover that at least 75%
of the terms and phrases you've listed are not of Singaporean origin.
Some of your examples, such as "snowball," are so obviously *not*
Singaporean it would make people suspect the validity of your other
claims.
Mike Wright
>
> Steve Sundberg wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 2 May 2000 12:03:53 +0800, "Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey
> > Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
> > R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
> >
[...]
> > Not Singaporean in the least.
> >
> > >(*) ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
> >
> > Ditto.
>
> Not confined to writing; pronounced /ey es ey piy/
In the US military, it's often /'ey s&p/.
--
Mike Wright
http://www.CoastalFog.net
_____________________________________________________
"China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese."
-- Charles de Gaulle
Peter T. Daniels
> > (*) unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
> > attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
> > since caught on for awhile)
>
> any comments from the others?
A perfectly normal derivation, used anywhere English is spoken.
Peter T. Daniels
> > (*)[A] to close one eye (to connive; to pretend not to see anything bad
> > happening)
>
We say "wink".
I'm going to skip the other half dozen or more of these postings ...
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >(*) like real (sarcastic agreement e.g "Zhong Qing is more beautiful than
> >Miss World." "Like real.")
>
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >(*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
> >(which is fast shattered) )
>
> employment.
interesting. a quote from some magazine, newspaper or journal would be
most welcome, if possible.
> Btw, iron doesn't shatter.
even when treated with extreme heat and cold?
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> > (*) smoke (besides meaning to malinger unobtrusively, can also mean to
> > give very general out-of-text answers in exams, especially for certain
> > subjects such as human resource etc)
>
> Don't know it; may be current college slang
AFAIK, "smoke" is not used to mean "malinger unobtrusively" in Singlish.
The term used would more likely be to "take cover", a military term which
means to "hide oneself or to take shelter" from "the enemy" which, in this
case, would be the boss or the sargeant or officer.
In Singlish, to "smoke" or to "throw smoke" means to "bluff, deceive, put
up a facade" which probably comes from "to throw a smokescreen" (a standard
English idiom) or "to throw a smoke grenade" (military). It could also be
related to "smoke and mirrors". Derivatives:-
smoke kar liao = to bluff one's way through, to bluff all the way
e.g. in an exam paper, impressing the opposite sex
smokalogy = the science/art of bluffing
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of
> news:390e5...@news.cyberway.com.sg...
>
> WAH LAU!!! --> can qualify?
>
> Set --> as in ... "Let's go watch Galaxy Quest" "OK, set!"
>
> See Show --> catch a movie (direct translation from Hokkien "kua hee")
>
> --
> Cheesy Poofs
> "Sex is a Texas drought"
yes, i've got these.
there is also "kua midnight" (pronounced as kua mee nai) = to a midnight
show
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
please use a database program, your compilation is getting messy. it needs
to be organised.
> New entries: (*)
>
> (*) shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
> shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
It is an old term carried over from the colonial days and used to be used
by the British, I am not sure if the Brits still use it.
A bona-fide Singaporean would most probably say "sheeling" instead of
"shillings" as in "You got sheeling a-not?" i.e. "Have you got small
change?"
> (*) unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
> attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
> since caught on for awhile)
any comments from the others?
> (*) 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
>
> (*) ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
these are not uniquely Singlish, and should be struck off the list, or
marked. e.g. "how come" is not uniquely Singlish, but I would mark it
as a commonly used phrase or a cliché in my database.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >But no shillings in the US; we say "change for a dollar." Is "shillings
> >of a ---" used in UK?
>
> I would imagine so, because that's where shillings were minted. I
> don't recall shillings ever being a Singapore coin.
except in the collonial days ...
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
>
> (*) TCM (traditional chinese medicine)
>
> (*) sinseh (doctor schooled in TCM)
...
please do some tidying up. TCM is not a widely-used acronym, as compared to
POSB, DBS, ERP, COE, HDB etc.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
> (*)[A] guru (Malay; expert.)
this has become standard English
from Merriam-Websters
gu•ru \"gur-(')u also ge-"ru\ noun pl gurus [Hindi guru, fr. Skt guru, fr. guru,
adj.
, heavy, venerable — more at grieve] (1613)
1 : a personal religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism
2 a : a teacher and esp. intellectual guide in matters of fundamental concern
b : one who is an acknowledged leader or chief proponent
c : a person with knowledge or expertise : expert
> (*)[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
from Merriam-Websters
go•down \"go-'daun\ noun [by folk etymology fr. Malay gudang] (1552)
> (*)[A] run amuck/amok (Malay; run berserk)
this has become standard English
> (*)[A] to close one eye (to connive; to pretend not to see anything bad
> happening)
COMMENTS anyone?
> (*)[A] to carry balls
COMMENTS anyone?
> to score points (to curry favour)
standard English
> (*)[A] snowball (to accumulate)
standard English
> (*)[C] RTS (Contraction of Radio TV Station but actually roam the street.
> It means being out of job and loitering around)
>
> (*)[C] CW (Mandarin; colour wolf from "se lang" to refer to a lecher)
> (*)[C] Dajiaqumaiya (Mandarin; nickname for Takashimaya)
that is Singdarin, not Singlish.
> (*)[C] dry swimming (mahjong session)
> *[A] 100 per cent (perfect e.g Are you 100 per cent sure?)
>
> *[A] ASAP (common contraction of as soon as possible in writing)
Not specially Singaporean
> *[A] to screw (up) someone (to scold someone badly)
Not specially Singaporean
> *[A] so what? (sour-grape comment)
yes, so what? this is standard English.
> *[B] to psycho someone (to influence someone, esp for something bad)
unclear.
> *[B] name-tag Christian (false Christians; Pharisee)
>
> *[B] Sunday Christian (same as name-tag Christian)
Not specially Singaporean
> *[B] waiting for Christmas (to procrastinate, to dilly-dally)
what is so unclear about this?
> *[A] Chicago of Singapore (the former nickname of Toa Payoh)
huh?
> *[A] level playing field (equal opportunities for all)
Not specially Singaporean.
> *[A] little red dot (jocular term for Singapore, esp in reference to her
> physical limitation)
it is just somebody's expression.
> *[A] long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
Not specially Singaporean.
> *[A] great digital divide (to distinguish the computer-savvies and
> otherwise)
Not specially Singaporean.
> *[C] tsaikovsky (from Mandarin "chai-er-fu-si-ji", a chauffeur,
> especially
> as a girl's date)
that is Singdarin, not Singlish.
> *[B] smoke / fly kite / eat snake (to malinger smartly so as not to be
> caught idling)
erroneous entry. please do your corrections.
> *[A] cosmopolitans (globe-trobbing professionals)
Not specially Singaporean.
> *[B] noisy voices outside (foreign criticisms of Singaporean policies)
it is just somebody's expression, i guess.
> *[A] stone / steam (sexually aroused)
>From Merriam-Websters:-
steamy \"ste-me\ adjective ...
2 : intensely or uncomfortably hot: as
a : hot and humid <a steamy afternoon>
b : sensually hot : erotic <a steamy love scene>
> *[A] loaded (get rich suddenly e.g. struck toto or made a pile at shares)
Not specially Singaporean. From Merriam-Websters:-
load•ed adjective (1886)
1 slang : high 12b
2 : having a large amount of money
> *[C] chop (to stamp)
ONE SUGGESTION FOR YOU: ARM YOURSELF WITH SOME STANDARD ENGLISH DICTIONARIES
the problem with us Singaporeans is, we are so used to certain terms and
expressions that we do not know if they are British or American idiom or
slang or if they are really Singaporean.
from Merriam-Websters:-
chop noun [Hindi chap stamp] (1614)
1 a : a seal or official stamp or its impression
b : a license validated by a seal
2 a : a mark on goods or coins to indicate nature or quality
b : a kind, brand, or lot of goods bearing the same chop
c : quality, grade <of the first chop
> *[C] auntie (a general address for accosting female strangers, regardless
> of age)
>
> *[C] uncle (a general address for accosting male strangers, regardless of
> age)
accosting? i thought it is a term of respect - i.e. quite the opposite
> *[A] and so on and so forth (common local usage for etc)
this does not seem to be specially Singaporean
> *[C] mamasan (procuress)
????????
> *[C] papasan (procuror)
????????
> *[A] Can (a colloquial term for Cantonese)
i am disputing this one.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
1) PLEASE DELETE OLD ENTRIES
2) PLEASE CHECK AGAINST STANDARD ENGLISH DICTIONARIES
3) PLEASE DO YOUR CORRECTIONS
4) PLEASE ANSWER THE DISPUTES
5) for goodness' sake, USE A DATABASE PROGRAM
Sophus Lefouque (M)
> >* on the ball (SAF slang for to be alert)
>
> American. Specifically, baseball. A good infielder's trait is to be
> "on the ball."
in Singapore, it is more like being enthusiastic, diligent, following
the rules, cooperating (play ball) although it includes being alert
> >* long time no see (didn't see you for a long time)
>
> I know I was saying that from at least 1970 when I was living in
> Japan. We'd loosely translate "shiburaku desune^" as "long time, no
> see."
the syntax is similar to the corresponding expressions in the Chinese
"dialects".
> >* cosmopolitans (globe-trobbing professionals)
>
> Must be why Cosmopolitan magazine has been published in Singapore all
> these years. ;)
hn hn hu hu hu her her her
ha ha ha ha wha ha ha ha ha ha ha
hee hee hee hee
*choke* *cough* *cough* *vomit* *cough* *cough* *choke*
> >* banana (very westernised Chinese who has lost touch with his
> >cultural/lingustic heritage)
>
> Japanese-Americans were using the term in the 1970's to describe
> themselves.
in Mandarin, it is called xiangŻ jiaoŻ ren/
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >*[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
>
> I had heard it was of Hong Kong origin.
It doesn't sound Cantonese to me. MW says it is from Malay "gudang".
>
> >*[A] snowball (to accumulate)
>
> How can this possibly have a Singaporean origin if snow doesn't even
> exist there? The term refers to the literal effect of rolling snow
> down a hill, i.e. the snowball gets bigger and bigger.
hee hee hee hee ha ha ha ha
hu hu hu ha ha ha ha ha ha
wha ha ha ha ha ha ha
*choke* *cough* *vomit* *cough* *cough*
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
no, it means: to keep up to date with someone else's life (e.g. family,
business, love life, children, career, ... etc)
REMEMBER TO DO YOUR CORRECTIONS AND "PASS UP" TO ME LATER.
pass up = to hand in, to submit (work to the teacher)
in standard English, to "pass up" means to let go, to forfeit,
to fail to take advantage of e.g. "pass up an opportunity"
many of your terms are English idioms or slang. NEXT TIME LEMEMBER to
check first HOR. for example, you may LEFER to
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> Wah Tzannnnnn..... looks like VNG has found his long lost TWIN....
...
he got how many? he no faig lah! i got over 2000 entries aready leh! some
more still have, but heaven (notchyet) sorted out. all put in database, can
sorting by various categories, can put in alphabetical order, searching oso
can. he dunno how to use database. how to faig?
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
no one knows everything, or is always correct. feel free to contribute.
but please show that you have at least done some homework on your own.
> Steve Sundberg? I get confused over the two at times though I know the
> latter is more serious/sober and the former wacky)
the "wacky" one can also be very serious and meticulous and goes through the
trouble to check with various sources.
> ... I should have put them under "English", "Hokkien", "Malay" and
> "Mandarin and others"
what about "buay tahan", "bo pakay", "go makan", "still can tong",
"bat chew ta stamp"?
...
> drop away since we are having this Speak Good English drive and many people
> may just start to think it is only right to speak the "true international"
> English?
...
let's try to educate the rest of the world to speak Singlish. problem
solved. ;-)
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> Some of your examples, such as "snowball," are so obviously *not*
> Singaporean it would make people suspect the validity of your other
> claims.
sometimes i have my doubts about my own compilations too. that is what
dictionaries are for. and that is what the usenet is for.
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>Steve Sundberg wrote:
>...
>> >(*) iron-rice bowls (the perceived job stability in the civil service
>> >(which is fast shattered) )
>>
>> Used first in the 1980's to describe Japanese cradle-to-grave
>> employment.
>
>interesting. a quote from some magazine, newspaper or journal would be
>most welcome, if possible.
Go to the library and look up some old 1980's era issues of Time or
Newsweek or the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times.
>> Btw, iron doesn't shatter.
>
>even when treated with extreme heat and cold?
How extreme do you mean?
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>Steve Sundberg wrote:
>...
>> >But no shillings in the US; we say "change for a dollar." Is "shillings
>> >of a ---" used in UK?
>>
>> I would imagine so, because that's where shillings were minted. I
>> don't recall shillings ever being a Singapore coin.
>
>except in the collonial days ...
Those were British coins then. Why do you think the Japanese replaced
British currency with its own scrip (and renamed Singapore, too) in
1942?
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>Steve Sundberg wrote:
>...
>> >*[A] godown (Malay; warehouse)
>>
>> I had heard it was of Hong Kong origin.
>
>It doesn't sound Cantonese to me. MW says it is from Malay "gudang".
The story that was told to me 20 years ago was that coolies were told
so often to "go down" the steps to the warehouse that they came to
believe a warehouse was really called a "go down."
Steve Sundberg
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>
>> (*) unputdownable (interesting (for book). This word caught public
>> attention when it was first used in the subtitle on a local drama and had
>> since caught on for awhile)
>
>any comments from the others?
Someone might want to check some old issues of the New York Times Book
Review. Sounds like something a reviewer would write about an
especially good book for summer reading.
Steve Sundberg
Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
[massive snippage]
Why haven't you made any corrections to your list? Do you intend on
turning into another Tomoyuki Tanaka, aka Net Kook?
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >even when treated with extreme heat and cold?
>
> How extreme do you mean?
i was browsing a chemistry textbook which showed an iron bar becoming more
brittle due a change in molecular structure when subjected to "blowing hot
and cold", similar to metal fatigue. it reminds me that in the same way,
the world's financial markets and economic system is so dynamic that the
Japanese "iron rice-bowl" concept became more vulnerable.
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> >except in the collonial days ...
>
> Those were British coins then. Why do you think the Japanese replaced
> British currency with its own scrip (and renamed Singapore, too) in
> 1942?
that reminds me of another phrase "banana money"
Sophus Lefouque (M)
...
> The story that was told to me 20 years ago was that coolies were told
> so often to "go down" the steps to the warehouse that they came to
> believe a warehouse was really called a "go down."
so which story should I believe? are there any English etymological
dictionaries that can settle this?
keith lim
Steve Sundberg <dee...@mm.com> wrote:
> <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
> >(*) shillings (coins esp for changing from notes e.g. Do you have
> >shillings of a dollar to spare me?)
> Oh, please. You're really turning yourself into a laughingstock with
> this one. How can you possibly believe the word "shillings" is of
> Singaore origin?
British origin, obviously, back from when Singapore was a British
colony.
My late grandfather *did* use "shillings" almost exclusively instead of
"coins". Nobody else in my family did. My grandfather was also the only
one who had worked for British employers.
Seeing the appearance of the term in the list is surprising. I would
have thought its use would have all but died out by now; the people
still using it must be rather old by now. I have not encountered its use
among younger people, nor seen it noted in other discussions of
Singapore language usage.
A different but related topic. I remember learning in primary school
(mid-1970s) my multiplication tables up to the 12 times table, e.g., for
the 7 times table, it would go up to ...7 x 10 = 70, 7 x 11 = 77, 7 x 12
= 84. There were, of course, the 11 and 12 times tables, going up to 11
x 12 = 132 and 12 x 12 = 144, respectively.
Why go up to 12 instead of just stopping at 10 (or even 9), which is all
that is needed to do manual multiplication? Because 12 pence = 1
shilling.
Though neither of those coins were used in Singapore then (we had long
been using 1 Singapore dollar = 100 Singapore cents, and I had never
known any other), teaching the multiplication tables up to 12 was still
being done; an outdated artefact of an earlier era when calculating
monetary sums *did* require knowledge of the multiples of 12. (That
nobody in charge of education had seen fit to change it, even after
about a decade of national independence shouldn't really come as a
surprise to anyone familiar with Singapore.)
--
keith lim keit...@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~keithlim/
If your cat was any bigger, it would kill you and eat you.
Peter T. Daniels
>
> [Followups set to soc.culture.singapore only]
[nope, because the thread finally came up with something relevant elsewhere]
> A different but related topic. I remember learning in primary school
> (mid-1970s) my multiplication tables up to the 12 times table, e.g., for
> the 7 times table, it would go up to ...7 x 10 = 70, 7 x 11 = 77, 7 x 12
> = 84. There were, of course, the 11 and 12 times tables, going up to 11
> x 12 = 132 and 12 x 12 = 144, respectively.
>
> Why go up to 12 instead of just stopping at 10 (or even 9), which is all
> that is needed to do manual multiplication? Because 12 pence = 1
> shilling.
>
> Though neither of those coins were used in Singapore then (we had long
> been using 1 Singapore dollar = 100 Singapore cents, and I had never
> known any other), teaching the multiplication tables up to 12 was still
> being done; an outdated artefact of an earlier era when calculating
> monetary sums *did* require knowledge of the multiples of 12. (That
> nobody in charge of education had seen fit to change it, even after
> about a decade of national independence shouldn't really come as a
> surprise to anyone familiar with Singapore.)
The US has had decimal currency since ca. 1790, and our times-tables (in the late
1950s) went up to 12, too. Lots of goods are sold by the dozen or the gross.
Surely English children had to learn 20-times tables because of the money?
They don't seem to use memorizing times-tables any more ...
Richard Herring
> keith lim wrote:
> >
> > [Followups set to soc.culture.singapore only]
> [nope, because the thread finally came up with something relevant elsewhere]
> > A different but related topic. I remember learning in primary school
> > (mid-1970s) my multiplication tables up to the 12 times table, e.g., for
> > the 7 times table, it would go up to ...7 x 10 = 70, 7 x 11 = 77, 7 x 12
> > = 84. There were, of course, the 11 and 12 times tables, going up to 11
> > x 12 = 132 and 12 x 12 = 144, respectively.
> >
> > Why go up to 12 instead of just stopping at 10 (or even 9), which is all
> > that is needed to do manual multiplication? Because 12 pence = 1
> > shilling.
> >
> The US has had decimal currency since ca. 1790, and our times-tables (in the late
> 1950s) went up to 12, too. Lots of goods are sold by the dozen or the gross.
> Surely English children had to learn 20-times tables because of the money?
No; we learned up to 12 times, plus 14 (pounds in the stone) and 16
(ounces in the pound) but 20 is just 2-times and add a zero.
--
Richard Herring | <richard...@gecm.com>
Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd@cyberway.com.sg Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd
Sophus Lefouque (M) <fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote in message
news:390F3D71...@yamashita.dontspamme...
>
~{UT@ojE~}Chiew Lee Yih
<fuki...@yamashita.dontspamme> wrote:
>Alvin Chan Yew Kee wrote:
>>
>> Are you referring to Singlish or actually Singaporean English (grammatical
>> English as spoken in Singapore)? They are two different ball games.
>...
>
>
>so how do you draw the line?
>
>
>let's go through some examples:-
>
> Singlish S-English
>
>* kiasu (this word has been "domesticated" into the English language)
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* kiasi
> kia bor\
> kia bo/
> kia cheng hu
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* level playing field
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* upgrade
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* lah
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* chicken feed / chicken feat = a no-brainer, very easy task
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>
>* cheapskate (debased, rather than stingy, locally)
>* cheeky (lascivious, rather than naughty, locally)
>
> these are your examples. please furnish us with example sentences.
>
>* long time no see
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
Wrong, long time no see is Native American.
Should be NA-English.
>
>* K.P. (busybody)
> my vote [/] [ ]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* sky juice
> my vote [ ] [/]
> your vote? [ ] [ ]
>
>* to arrow someone (to point the finger at or to accuse someone)
>
> please furnish us with example sentences of your definition.
> the Singaporean "arrow" that I know means to "assign somebody to a
> task"
>
>
>* blurred (confused)
ahxiang
Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>* LOBO (SAF slang to mean in transit, waiting for job allocation)
>
~ jo bo larn
ahxiang
~ how come no 'talk cock'?
Sophus Lefouque (M)
have! classified as courtesy level "-2 {Vulgar}" in my database. i am
not sure if any publisher would consider publishing it ...
Sophus Lefouque (M)
>
> On Mon, 1 May 2000 12:38:19 +0800, "Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey
> Blk 1 Ghim Moh Rd" <Alvin Chan Yew Kee of 11th storey Blk 1 Ghim Moh
> R...@cyberway.com.sg> wrote:
>
> >
> ~ jo bo larn
Courtesy-Level "-2 {Vulgar}" in my database. seriously, who is going to
want to publish this?