Essqueue... Essqueue...!

I have an i-dear! Shall we go Melbem in Setember? We can
eat fry rye, fren fry and nasi lomak. Drink ore-rain joo and
lime joo, dining with oot table and oot chairs.......

Lost? That's probably what you will often hear when you are visiting Singapore. This is what we fondly call "SINGLISH". After being here for over 16 years, I am really good at it too. When I was in the resort island of Lombok (Indonesia) last year, a local asked my friends and I, "Are you speaking Japanese?". No dear... it's Singapore English :)

I have cracked my brain to compile all the commonly mispronounced words and common phrases used here in Singapore. Special thanks to those who have eagerly contributed to the list. Do drop your comments if you have thought of anything new.

Notice how amazingly certain phrases can shorten an otherwise very lenghty sentence (Item No.18). And how certain phrases can have so many meanings without too much elaboration (Item No.2 & 3). After all, as long as everyone understands you, and you know how to say it in perfect English when you are out of Singapore... why not go Singlish?

I believe how Singlish has developed to its stage today is largely contributed to our multicultural society with a good mix of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians all living quite harmoniously together. A lot of the phrases are adapted from Mandarin languange, dialects and even Malay languange, be it correctly or incorrectly.

Of course there are other exclamations that are added at the end of a sentence, eg: lah, lor, leh, hor, har, woh. It can get quite tricky to learn when to use what. To pronounce them in the right tone is also not easy. Eg 4 demonstrates how one can even use 2 of such exclamations in 1 sentence.

Eg 1. Don't go lah (can be in a pleading way or in a bossy/irritated way. The secret lies in the tone of how you pronounce it)
Eg 2. Just do it lor (said in a rather impatient way for someone who is fickle minded)
Eg 3. This one is really good leh!! (said in a reassuring way with an exlamation tone at the end)
Eg 4. I tell you hor, this movie is really good leh (used to join the 2 ends of the sentence together)
Eg 5. What did you say, har? What do you want, har? Where you want to go, har? (usually used to end a sentence)
Eg.6. But I don't know how to go woh... (used in this context to gain sympathy)

Excuse me : Essqueue
Melbourne : Melbem
Plastic : Blastic
Juice : Joo (lime joo, ore rain joo)
oil : Oyy
Wood : Oot
Ear : Year
September : Setember
French Fries : Fren Fry
Fried Rice : Fry Rye
Soil : Soy
Spoilt : Spoy oredi
nevermind : neh mind
nasi lemak : nasi lomak
idea : i-dear
government : garment
three : tree
also : oso
film : flim
like that : lyedat
don't know : donch know
about it : a-bow-writ

1. can fit or not? [Does that fit you?]
2. wat you want? [What would you like? What do you want to do?]
3. can or not? [Will that be possible? Can that be done? Are we allowed to do that?]
4. go where? [Where would you want to go?]
5. eat what? [What would you like to eat?]
6. so how now? [What should we do now?]
7. going TO FULL already ah [It is going to be fully booked soon] This one is classic!
8. can, can! [Ok, that will be great!]
9. wat talking you [What do you mean exactly?]
10. smelly or not? [Do you think this is smelly?]
11. so-called..... [to describe what should be in "inverted commas", ie not the actual truth. eg: this is our so called "recreation room"]
12. what you call ..... [a rather unnecessary word, probably used when the speaker is not really sure the right term to what he is describing. eg: This is what you call our 21st century state of the art surround-sound system]
13. cannot like that la..... [You shouldn't be doing that]
14. win oredi lor [used when somebody has done something incredible. eg: You win oredi lor, achieved your whole year's sales target in just 3 months!]
15. why you lyedat? [Why are you behaving that way?]
16. hurry up go and.... [always used before a verb to emphasize something is done in a rush, eg: I hurry up go and pick up the phone]
17. die die also must... [no matter what. eg: die die also must go and try the steak in that restaurant]
18. always dunno one leh you [Why do you always not know what I am talking about?]
19. everything oso u dunno [Why do you not understand so many things?]
20. skali nobody turn up [What if nobody turns up!]
21. how can? [How can this possibly be?]
22. go stunt [reverse]
23. don't little bit little bit say me hor [Don't accuse me of every single thing]
24. my one..., your one [this is mine, this is yours]
25. so tomorrow gym? [Are we going to gym tomorrow?]
26. got meh? [Are you sure it is there?]
27. where got? [Are you sure??]
28. ah-boh-den? [What do you expect?!!]
29. later you fall down then you know [Used like a warning. eg: Stop that or you may fall down!]
30. cannot tahan oredi [I can't stand it anymore]
31. don't shy don't shy [Please don't be shy, Please make yourself at home?]
32. don't play play [Don't play a fool, Don't joke with me]
33. tompang [to take a lift, to put under someone's care. eg: Can I tompang your car home? Can I tompang my keys inside your handbag?]
34. How to? [How do I do this?]
35. Then hor... [And what happens next is...]

... the one who is thinking of having lunch at Little India tomorrow