Kuala Lumpur: The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added several Malaysian and Singaporean English terms in its latest update, highlighting the region’s linguistic influence on global English.
Oxford Languages announced the additions in a press release yesterday, noting that many of the new entries originate from Malay and Hokkien.
The update explains that “agak‑agak” appears as both a noun and a verb, describing estimation or guesswork, and is “most frequently used in the context of a particular way of cooking, in which ingredients are added based on estimation and intuition rather than accurate measurement.”
Oxford Languages said Malaysians and Singaporeans commonly apply this intuitive style of cooking to dishes such as assam laksa and ice kacang.
The update also includes Malay borrowings such as “wayang,” which originally referred to traditional Indonesian and Malaysian theatrical performances involving puppetry or human dancers depicting mythological stories.
Oxford Languages notes that the word later developed a figurative noun sense meaning “a pretence or a false display intended to cheat or deceive,” as well as an adjective sense describing something “flashy, showy, or fake.”
“Boleh,” another Malay borrowing, appears as an intransitive verb meaning to have the power, ability, or capacity to do or deal with something successfully.
The update adds that it can also function like the modal verb “can,” and that its use was popularised by the slogan “Malaysia boleh” during a 1993 Milo marketing campaign supporting Malaysian athletes at the South-east Asian (Sea) Games in Singapore.
Hokkien contributions in this update include “jialat,” which describes a difficult or terrible situation. It originally also carried the sense of something irksome or exhausting, deriving from the Hokkien chia̍h‑la̍t, a compound of chia̍h meaning “to eat” and la̍t meaning “strength.”
Another Hokkien borrowing is “kaypoh,” which refers to a busybody and can function as a noun, adjective or verb.
The OED also adds “BTO,” the initialism for Singapore’s Build‑to‑Order public housing scheme, which has evolved into a verb meaning to apply for such a flat.
The press release states that applying for a BTO flat is often viewed as a relationship milestone, signalling that a couple is serious and “not there to play play (to fool about, mess around, or waste time).”
Oxford Languages lists the new Malaysian and Singaporean English entries as follows:
New words
- assam laksa, n.
- agak‑agak, n.
- agak‑agak, v.
- boleh, v. and int.
- BTO, n.
- BTO, v.
- degazette, v.
- ice kacang, n.
- jialat, adj.
- kaypoh, n. and adj.
- kaypoh, v.
- Mat Salleh, n. and adj.
- play play, v.
- wayang, n. and adj.
Revised entries
- Bahasa, n.
- ikat, n.
- kavadi, n.
- kongsi, n.
- koyan, n.
- lah, int.
- langsuir, n.
- sarong, n.
- saronged, adj.
- sedekah, n.
- tetampan, n.
- towkay, n.
- tunku, n.
- Yang di‑Pertuan Agong, n.
Oxford Languages said readers can find more details on updates from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Africa and Ireland in its World English release notes.
