Discuss about the latest news & interesting topics, real life experience or other out of topic discussions with locals & expatriates in Singapore.
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therat
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by therat » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:15 am
the lynx wrote:Gostan = Go a stern
I've never thought that I will ever hear that word in Singapore. Not until I took a cab recently. The driver went to a dead-end road and he said, "Oh, wrong place. Must gostan!"
this gostan is not English
It is hock kien. mean reverse, go back, U-turn.
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katbh
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by katbh » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:17 am
Bummer...thought ga'stern was cool
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the lynx
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by the lynx » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:24 am
therat wrote:the lynx wrote:Gostan = Go a stern
I've never thought that I will ever hear that word in Singapore. Not until I took a cab recently. The driver went to a dead-end road and he said, "Oh, wrong place. Must gostan!"
this gostan is not English
It is hock kien. mean reverse, go back, U-turn.
Dude, "go a stern" is English. And "gostan" is one of those localised pronunciations, something like what katbh meant. And no, Hokkien uses different word altogether for reverse.
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Max Headroom
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by Max Headroom » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:19 am
One quaint local oddity I come across quite frequently is this verb tense reversal. For instance I hear things like "The exact time hasn't been confirm yet, but I will confirmed it soon".
How did that happen?
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the lynx
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by the lynx » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:23 am
Max Headroom wrote:One quaint local oddity I come across quite frequently is this verb tense reversal. For instance I hear things like "The exact time hasn't been confirm yet, but I will confirmed it soon".
How did that happen?
Just plain effed up grammar?
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nakatago
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by nakatago » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 11:28 am
PNGMK wrote:Just be grateful they don't call a 10c piece a shilling and the one cent pieces pennies.
They call them tensen and wansen respectively.
"A quokka is what would happen if there was an anime about kangaroos."
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beppi
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by beppi » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 3:51 pm
"more better"
"very best"
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morenangpinay
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by morenangpinay » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 4:36 pm
they use "Hello!" when they mean excuse me. "hello hello"
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kookaburrah
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by kookaburrah » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 4:36 pm
The strange plurals, some of them already mentioned: Fats, furnitures, stuffs, luggages, staffs, etc.
The random use of 'borrow' and 'lend'.
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Wd40
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by Wd40 » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 4:53 pm
PNGMK wrote:BedokAmerican wrote:Some people tend to use the word "dear." Such as "hello dear."
Also, sometimes junk mail is addressed to "dear owner" or "dear resident."
Another colonial hang over.... even in PNG as a kid we were taught to address everything that way - even in jest or malice; 'Dear Mr BedokAmerican - you may be an asswipe, but I'm a douche'.
Just be grateful they don't call a 10c piece a shilling and the one cent pieces pennies.
So the PNG in your nick, is Papua New Guinea is it?
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Addadude
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by Addadude » Mon, 12 Aug 2013 6:03 pm
Singlish is all about efficiency.
Instead of saying something lengthy and cumbersome like:
"I beg your pardon. I didn't quite understand what you just said. Would you mind repeating it?"
Just say:
"Hah???"
"Both politicians and nappies need to be changed regularly, and for the same reasons."
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BedokAmerican
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by BedokAmerican » Tue, 13 Aug 2013 10:39 am
"Opening hours" instead of "hours" or "hours of operation." I see this on lots of Sg business web sites.
Opening hours makes it sound like they're just listing when they're open and not when they close.
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katbh
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by katbh » Tue, 13 Aug 2013 10:47 am
It is so interesting that just about every thing that is mentioned by posters with USA as country of origin (PC), is referring to British rather than Singaporean differences.
'Opening hours' is very normal in most of the world
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Wd40
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by Wd40 » Tue, 13 Aug 2013 10:57 am
What about floor levels, starting from 1 here instead of Ground Floor, in India?
So 1st Floor in India is actually Level 2 here.
I am not sure how it works in the UK or the US?
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abbym
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by abbym » Tue, 13 Aug 2013 11:00 am
Strangely, that is american I think? In the UK you start at ground, then go up to 1,2,3...etc. In north america the ground floor is level 1 if I remember correctly? Someone tell me if I'm wrong please!
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--> I presume that anyone in this category would almost certainly be PR riding on Parents PR (and not PR on his/her own merits).
Mostly, yes
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