Tumpang, teach me Singlish

[celticfish]

happy camper,
hope you realize one of the points i like about AQ is its the intolerence of singlish.
but i'm really impressed at your command of the stuff!!
and i'm still ROTFL this morning!!! hahahaha

vinz,
how's it going with the move and all?
hope to see a ressurection of the dragon soon!
and i'm glad to hear you in plain "singlish". heehee

this thread is just sooo naughty for AQ...

[hwchoy]

actually Singlish in of itself, is not so bad if considered as a coloqial dialect. Singlish can be written quite well without all the native terms, it has a modified grammar.

What I personally could not tolerate is the use of SMSlish. I refuse to read a post written entirely in SMSlish. Also those people who like to write words with alternating upper and lowercase. I still have yet to find out what it is for.

[budak]

Linguistically, singlish is known as a 'patois', a creation with vocabulatory and syntax blended from a variety of other tongues (Malay and Hokkien in particular). The related Nonya or Baba Malay is another patois language as is Creole (American English + French). Singlish has its own set of rules and internal logic. Thus, you can tell when for example, somebody tries to affect "Singlish" by simply using its vocabulatory and particles (e.g. "lah") anyhow in a sentence. It sounds terribly fake.

sms-language may have its place in mobile communications between frens, but in other platforms, its use signifies to me that the user enjoys and practices a closeness and informality (with other forummers) that is not justified, as well as plain laziness. In much of Singapore and urban Malaysia, I doubt English standards in schools are so bad as to leave people unable to spell "me".

[hwchoy]

I fail to even see the logic of spelling "me" as "mi" even. In SMSlish it was to save on keystrokes, but "mi" actually takes more strokes than "me" (at least on the Nokia phones).

Perhaps I should resort to answering SMSlish posts with TLXlish. STOP.

[planted86]

planted86...

In this thread oni, hor.

ok lo... lol....

[Happy Camper]

Guys

It is certainly not my intention to upset members on this forum as its my favourite. This is my reason for wanting to learn Singlish. Is Singlish frowned upon in Singapore? I see alot of the users here use it so I was interested in learning some so that I could understand what it was you were saying, also it opens up a small window into your culture which to me is extremely interesting.

If this thread is offending anyone I would prefer for the moderators to remove it completely. My humble apologies if I offended anyone.

Warmest Regards
Cameron James

[Justikanz]

I think it is fine, as long as it stays in this thread! In fact, I love Singlish too... Afterall, we are Singaporeans, Singlish is LIKE a national language (unofficially) to us...

As you had experienced it in Cichlids section, James, Blueblue had to ask what you meant. There are many readers here who do not understand Singlish. As such, we do not encourage the use of SMS lingo and to a certain extent, Singlish. However, Singlish is fine, actually, just provide a translation after than in the same post.

[Happy Camper]

OK, cool. I will keep it in this thread if there are no objections from users or moderators. Thanks for being understanding and humouring my Singlish skills.

Tsao

[Justikanz]

Actually, IMO, Singlish is a darn difficult language to pick up... It is a combination of too many languages and dialects and if the wrong vocab is used or the words used in the wrong sequence, it will sound funny and unnatural...

For example:

You said: 'I have tumpang to ask of you.'
The right thing to say is: 'Can tumpang something with you?'
Or simply: 'Ask you ah...'

You said: 'Tumpang, teach me Singlish'
The correct way is: 'Tolong lah, teach me Singlish leh.' (Tolong = Malay for help, Tumpang = Malay for getting a lift)
Or simply: 'Eh, teach me Singlish, can?'

You said: 'I am feeling Kaypoh today '
I think you meant to say: 'I am feeling boh liao today' (kaypoh = Singlish slang for busybody, boh liao = Hokkien for bored, nothing to do)

You said: 'You have to be patient with me because maybe I am KAY KIANG.'
Quite funny to hear that because Kay Kiang is usually meant to scold people for trying to do something they know they are NOT capable to do...

Have fun with this thread...

[BFG]

It's going downhill!

[hwchoy]

OK, cool. I will keep it in this thread if there are no objections from users or moderators. Thanks for being understanding and humouring my Singlish skills.

Tsao

no no we are not upset. Singlish is I am just upset with SMSlish.

[hwchoy]

this is an excellent scholarly discourse on the patois http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/singlish.htm

and of course for some real training go to www.talkingcock.com

[hwchoy]

you can speak singlish with minimum loan words from hokkien (which is quite a recent infusion, i.e. last two decades). the key is the proper use of singlish grammatical strcuture.

e.g. "I am feeling boh liao today" relies on the speaker/listener knowing what "boh liao" means. instead a pure english version, yet very singlish, could be: "today very bored leh."

all are explained in the link I posted previously.

[Happy Camper]

Heh, you guys should become teachers

Justikanz: Thank you for the translation. I can now see that my grammar was completely incorrect, neither wonder you guys are laughing at me

hwchoy: I've been using talkingcock quite a bit, nice site. Also, thanks for that other link, it also explains things quite nicely from a teachers perspective.

I think Singlish is cool

Tsao for now

[Justikanz]

To be able to converse (or write for that matter) properly in Singlish or any other language (The government is so going to be happy that we are even calling Singlish a language ), it is best to use it often. As such, James, try your hand here often. At least you make mistakes on this thread, only this few of use will laugh and you still learn.

[hwchoy]

Tsao for now

what is "tsao"?

[vinz]

I'm guessing it's "ciao", using the English way of spelling chinese word phonetically.

Like "Tse" or "Tze"? As in "Sun Tze" or "Sun Tse".

[Happy Camper]

Dear teachers

I got the 'Tsao' from Talkingcock, here is a cut and paste from TC:

TSAO
Hokkien for "to run". Can also mean to dodge or skive. Curiously, nowadays, it's also used very much like "goodbye" a la the Italian "ciao", which sounds very similar.
1. "When a mad dog chases you - tsao like siao, man!"
2. "Want to tsao class today?"
See also: Pontang Siam, Tuang

Is this definition wrong? What is the proper way to say goodbye at the end of a post? And also what is an opening greeting (like 'hello members' or 'hello friends'?)

Justikanz, thanks, I'm enjoying learning some new phrases so as long as I'm keeping you guys entertained and you are correcting my mistakes (there will be more I'm sure). You can call me Cameron (James is my last name, I'm not the movie director you are thinking of

Cheers (no tsao )

[hwchoy]

definition is not wrong, just that it is yet another new loan word from hokkien. Not really in the mainstream usage I think. Unlike words like kiasu, which converys a concept not available in other languages, such simple loan words may not merge into mainstream Singlish usage.

Nevertheless, I think it is more common to use it as such (in your context): "tsao first." which is a literal translation the chinese/hokkien usage, which probably why the loan word is a hokkien word.

[BFG]

Choy, maybe wrong spelling? Maybe it must be spelled as 'chao' as in 'chao keng'? 1st time I heard Tsao.