Singlish for the Traveller

        Finally, I discovered the Singaporean equivalent of the word "PALAGPAT"...  Believe it or not, locals use the term "TALKING COCK"

Talking Cock (v.) - a local Singaporean term meaning either to talk nonsense or engage in idle banter.

        Close enough?  Well, Singlish, as they call their unique language, is a very efficient form of communication.  Singlish is the uniquely Singaporean vernacular blend of English and local (mostly) Hokkien, Malay and Tamil terms.  Often (unfairly) maligned, Singlish actually involves  a lot of very witty cross-cultural wordplay.

        Here are  some commonly-used Singlish sentences extracted from my sis' book, talkingcock.com's "The Coxford Singlish Dictionary":

(English sentence) -- (Singlish translation)

Hello, here is my passport -- Nah!

Good day!  Welcome to the Grand Hotel -- (silent stare)

Did you have a pleasant flight? -- Your plane? How?

May I have your name? -- Name?

Do you like this room? -- This one, can?

I'm sure it'll be alright -- Can, lah. Take!

Hello! -- Eh!

Where shall we go for a meal? -- Go where?

How about this place? -- Here can?

Can you help me photocopy these documents, please? -- Take and zap!

Quck! Let's get out of here! -- Take cover!

Do you like this? -- Can?

What are you looking at? -- See what?

What shall we do this evening? -- Tonight do what?

Let's attend a concert -- Lai, go concert

Where are we going? -- Go where?

Is there a problem? -- Wha'ppen?

Hello handsome! -- Eh, yan tao!

Shall we go on a date tonight? -- Tonight want to pak tor, not?

I thought we'd start with dinner, then watch the midnight movie -- Go and whack first, then kua meenite.

Sounds good to me -- On, lah!

        Note how utterly efficient Singlish is compared to the English Language? 

        In the same amount of time that two English-speaking persons will talk about the current weather only, Singlish-speaking persons would have already talked about the weather, the sports, the latest showbiz news, have said goodbye to teach other, and would have gone to sleep already .

        Here are some other interesting terms:

(Singlish) -- (English)

nowsaday -- nowadays

off day -- day off

swee (or swee-swee) -- pretty or beautiful

iron rings -- onion rings

supot -- support

semen -- a very unfortunate common mispronunciation of "cement"

semen mixture -- a very unfortunate common mispronunciation of "cement mixture"

Okay lah!  Gotta tsao, not?

Learn more Singlish terms from The Coxford Singlish Dictionary.