Action
Derived from the English language, meaning to show off.
Eg. ‘he always likes to action in front of the ladies’
Chope (reserve)
A handy phrase if you want to reserve seats in a restaurant. "Chope seats!"
Kayu
Derived from the Malay language, meaning dumb or stupid.
Lah
You’ll hear this one a lot, it’s the most famous Singaporean expression! It’s used at the end of sentences for emphasis.
Eg. ‘very funny, lah!’ [this is my favorite LAH.. ]
Shiok (fantastic)
Derived from the Malay language, this is a handy one to describe a tasty dish.
Eg. ‘that prawn mee soup was shiok!’
Kiasu (afraid to lose out to others or not to lose face)
Derived from the Hokkien dialect, kaisu is something the Singaporeans endeavour to avoid!
Eg. ‘he sent his family to line up in different queues for the same item, so kiasu’.
Ya ya (boastful or arrogant)
Eg. 'He's so ya ya, lah!'
ya ya shiok lah lol...[ remembering the happy times ]
