It may not be good enough for national television, but it’s good enough for the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which just added a second slew of Singlish words and phrases to its hallowed pages.
It’s not the first time it’s happened though—the OED incited a major local debate back in May, when words like “shiok”, “lepak” and “blur” were added, prompting local writer and academic Gwee Li Sui to write a victorious op-ed on Singlish in the New York Times. PM Lee’s Press Secretary Li Lin Chan wrote in 10 days later, rebutting that “not everyone has a Ph.D. in English Literature like Mr. Gwee, who can code-switch effortlessly between Singlish and standard English, and extol the virtues of Singlish in an op-ed written in polished standard English” (though we bristle at the implication that a terminal degree is required to code-switch). Then there was the petition to remove the term “Chinese Helicopter” too.
This time around, the OED has added common expressions like aiyah and aiyoh have been added to the list. Kopitiam also made the cut, accompanied by our iconic dishes like char kway teow and rendang to make the list even tastier. But looks like we’ll have to wait to see “anyhowly” make the cut.
This month’s update also includes six made-up words used in books by British novelist Roald Dahl, such as “human bean”, “Oompa Loompa” and more. Check out the full list here.
