‘Can or not? Can meh? Can lah!,’ What are the best Singlish phrases to teach a friend?

SINGAPORE: After a Reddit user asked, “Help me think of some Singlish phrases to teach a friend?” many commenters obliged, supplying what they feel are among the most helpful Singlish-isms.

“My friend from the UK loves Singlish and he’s been learning a few common Singlish phrases. He found on google ‘die die must try’ and ‘own time own target’ which he loved and has since been using loads – can you think of any more common or funny ones that I can teach him?” wrote u/rohorolo on r/askSingapore on Thursday (July 20).

The post spawned a lively discussion as Redditors riffed on the topic, with many of them citing the often-used “can” and its adjacent words as among the most useful.

“Master the difference between the following: ‘Can lah, Can meh, Can lor Can one (Can wan). Plus all the tonal differences of ‘CAN OR NOT.’”

One wrote, “My expat colleagues love ‘can is can, cannot is cannot’.”

Another chimed in that “Can lah” can have many meanings.

“a favorite of my non sinkie friends seems to be: Can. should we go for dinner? can what should we eat? anything also can din tainfung? caaaaan,” wrote another.

This led to a Reddit user writing that even “Can” may be said in several ways.

Another wrote, “teach him now to use ‘can’. This one can? ‘can. can meh? ‘can’ can help? ‘can is can la.’”

“Can is Can but cannot also must can,” wrote another.

One contributed, “Cry father cry mother. Catch no ball. One times good one. Don’t play play. Wake up your idea. Own time own target. Expats love the word ‘can’. They get so amused how useful and encompassing it is.”

Another suggested, “ownself check ownself.”

“Say people say yourself,” was another contribution, with the Reddit user adding, “Such an amazing phrase that’ll show a Singaporean apart from foreigners. All English words, but you can’t understand it unless you know Singlish.”

One came up with a list of other “Singlish-isms.”

“One times good one,” was an example supplied by a Reddit user.

“CHOPE \chōp\ transitive verb (Singapore slang): To reserve a seat in a place to eat by placing a tissue packet on it,” wrote another.

/TISG

“No perfect English, never mind… after all, lot of Singaporeans speak Singlish” — Netizens respond to George Goh’s statement on the advantage of imperfect English