The Aussie-Singapore Dictionary
South Australia
Introduction: Phin Wong
Words: Penny Hsieh
Ah, Australia. A magical land where kangaroos use their tails as an extra limb; where it’s summer in December; and where the English language seems to have evolved on its own merry way.
As a student in Australia a long, long time ago, a classmate once asked me how my “arvo” was. I stared blankly at him and said my elbow was just fine, thank you very much, despite all the Ikea furniture I had to assemble on my own. Another classmate invited me round to his place to throw some “shrimp on the barbie”. I said I personally preferred throwing some Bob Mackie on my Barbie, but to each his own.
I liked my Aussie classmates. I just wish I could have understood the words that came out of their mouths.
Of course, Australians feel the same way about Singaporeans. “Oh, you’re from Singapore!” a bartender would say to me. “Do you speak Singaporean?”
I stared blankly a lot in Australia.
You can’t blame them for thinking the language we’re speaking is not, in fact, (mainly) English. After all, you may have heard that the Inuit have 50 words for “snow” (an incorrect nugget of trivia, by the way), but Singaporeans have 100 ways to use “wah lau” (totally true).
So to prep travellers from both the Lion City and the Land Down Under for their dealings with one another on vacation, we bring help in the form of a most excellent Aussie-Singapore dictionary.
Our hope is that the next time you’re wandering through South Australia on an Instagram binge, and someone at a winery says he’s “pretty pissed”, you will simply reply, “yah mabok, siah”, and high-five each other knowingly.
Go forth and communicate.
Ah, Australia. A magical land where kangaroos use their tails as an extra limb; where it’s summer in December; and where the English language seems to have evolved on its own merry way.
As a student in Australia a long, long time ago, a classmate once asked me how my “arvo” was. I stared blankly at him and said my elbow was just fine, thank you very much, despite all the Ikea furniture I had to assemble on my own. Another classmate invited me round to his place to throw some “shrimp on the barbie”. I said I personally preferred throwing some Bob Mackie on my Barbie, but to each his own.
I liked my Aussie classmates. I just wish I could have understood the words that came out of their mouths.
Of course, Australians feel the same way about Singaporeans. “Oh, you’re from Singapore!” a bartender would say to me. “Do you speak Singaporean?”
I stared blankly a lot in Australia.
You can’t blame them for thinking the language we’re speaking is not, in fact, (mainly) English. After all, you may have heard that the Inuit have 50 words for “snow” (an incorrect nugget of trivia, by the way), but Singaporeans have 100 ways to use “wah lau” (totally true).
So to prep travellers from both the Lion City and the Land Down Under for their dealings with one another on vacation, we bring help in the form of a most excellent Aussie-Singapore dictionary.
Our hope is that the next time you’re wandering through South Australia on an Instagram binge, and someone at a winery says he’s “pretty pissed”, you will simply reply, “yah mabok, siah”, and high-five each other knowingly.
Go forth and communicate.
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