Talk:Singlish vocabulary

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This article was nominated for deletion on 13/9/2006. The result of the discussion was keep.

Please try to improve this article according to the suggestions listed at the Afd page. Thanks! --Han Sheng 17:34, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Tiao Herr 2 Questionable Entries 3 The Place of Singlish in Singapore 4 Naughty words

[edit] Tiao Herr

I'm Singaporean, and I thought that the description and actual drink listed as 'tiao herr' as a packaged drink in the condensed milk can was wrong.

I thought 'tiao herr' meant teabag tea (western OR chinese) to be drunk AT the coffeeshop (not to go) and the words tiao herr referred to the action of dipping the teabag into the tea. Could be wrong though. Squiggle 05:56, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Questionable Entries

• blanket party - how is this unique to singlish? I'm from the US, and we use this term, too. It has the exact same meaning.
• OT - ditto
• roadsweeper - sort of similar concern

I have no opinion on terms derived from other languages, but, obviously, I'd argue that if there are any more where singlish usage doesn't differ from usage in the language they were borrowed from, those entries should be deleted. My Alt Account 08:07, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Ok. I'm working hard to clean-up the list. Thanks for the suggestions. --Han Sheng 08:38, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

The Singlish usage of words derived from other languages might be of the same usage as in the language they were borrowed from. However, it is because these terms are commonly added into an English conversation which makes this combination of English + Hokkien + Malay etc. unique to Singlish. Therefore, I feel that these terms should be continued to be included in this article as they have already become part of the Singlish lexicon. --Han Sheng 08:43, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

I don't get it. Since singlish is a pidgin, all its words are derived from other languages and then uniquely combined. So how do you decide which words to leave out? Surely this list shouldn't include every singlish word. My Alt Account 09:44, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Some of the words are derived from other languages but take on their own unique spellings and pronunciations over time. These words are chosen as those that are representative of Singlish as they are frequently used. They are even sometimes used colloquially in the local newspapers, which shows that they are widely understood by Singaporeans. Of course, the list is not perfect so anyone who feels that there are other terms that are representative to Singlish can add on to it and remove those that they feel are not appropriate. But then again, isn't that the whole point of Wikipedia? --Han Sheng 15:11, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

I use the following rule of thumb for my Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English: if a word or phrase believed to be Singlish or Singapore English appears in a dictionary of standard English such as the Oxford English Dictionary with the same meaning, then I regard it as not really being Singlish or Singapore English. In my view, it only makes sense to treat a standard English term as having entered the 'Singlish vocabulary' if it has gained a different meaning. For this reason, I would exclude 'wallop' (to eat greedily) because the OED includes this sense of the word, but would include 'bungalow' (a detached house, regardless of the number of storeys it has) as the OED defines it as a single-storeyed detached house. Jacklee 21:46, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Place of Singlish in Singapore

I'm of the view that the paragraphs under this heading are more appropriate under the main 'Singlish' article because they do not relate directly to Singlish vocabulary. Jacklee 01:42, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

The original purpose of this section was meant to explain the reason for the lack of proper documentations of Singlish. Hence, i believe it belongs to this article. Maybe the heading of this section could be modified to suit the article? or this section cuold be merged with the section before it. --Han Sheng 17:22, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

I think merging the section with the preceding one is a good idea. Jacklee 21:48, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Naughty words

Wah lao, dis list so boring one. Where got kan ni na bu chao chee bye and all the other lovely Hokkien-cum-Singlish expressions? Jpatokal 06:04, 23 October 2006 (UTC)