Singapore was recently crowned as the second best non-native English speaking country in the world. And even though English is one of the four languages of Singapore, we’d never give it a second thought that we’re good at it. English brought us SINGLISH for crying out loud! Singlish is a blend of English and Singaporean slang first recorded in the 1970s. Ironically, the colloquial Singaporean English has made it out of Singapore and into the pages of the world-famous Oxford English Dictionary. The famous dictionary aims to document the evolution of the English language and this is why Singlish has been included.
Oxford Dictionary Singlish
From Singaporean food, to local buildings, words referring to people like ”Chinese helicopter”, hilarious exclamations, and more…the Oxford English Dictionary features the best of Singlish.
OED first launched Singlish back in the year 2000 with ”lah” and ”sinseh” and followed by ”kiasu” in 2007. Today, other favourites found in the acclaimed dictionary include ”Killer litter”, ”HBD”, ”ang moh”, to name a few. Here are 27 Singlish words (we know of) in the Oxford Dictionary.
1. Ah Beng
2. Aiyah
3. Aiyoh
4. Ang Moh
5. Atas
6. Blur
7. Char Kway Teow
8. Char siu
9. Chilli crab
10. Chinese helicopter
11. Hawker centre
12. HDB
13. Kiasu
14. Killer litter
15. Lah
16. Lepak (n)
17. Lepak (v)
18. Lepaking
19. Shiok
20. Sabo (n)
21. Sabo (v)
22. Sabo king
23. Sinseh
24. Sotong
25. Teh Tarik
26. Wah
27. Wet market
Although, the publication has not given an update on Singlish in the Oxford English Dictionary since 2016, so there may be more words by 2025. Meanwhile, some people believe it is baffling that Singlish is part of the English language dictionary. What do you think?
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