A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English - M
Last updated on
14 November 2015 (69
headwords).
No reproduction without permission.
mɑ: l?? ɡ??马
mɑ si sɑ k?
mɑ'bo(k?)
, vol. 2, 717 mabok. Intoxication.
Properly of anything that <>.. But if no other cause is
mentioned m. [mabok] means <>; bapa’ pěmabok ěmak pěmadat
(the father a drunkard, the mother addicted to opium), Si Jamin [Si-Djamin
dan Si Djohan (2nd ed.) (Batavia: Balai Poestaka)] 13.]
Bryan Wong)
, 18 December, 41 Q: You love cars and you love your hair.
Would you rather always have a great set of wheels or a great head of hair? Why?
A: Of course hair lah! If no wheels, never mind – my friends all have mah!
A Chinese dish consisting of vermicelli with pork, prawns or shredded fish, and
1947 P.C.B. Newington
(foreword by A.J.H. Dempster,
Assistant Food Controller of Perak)
1 And here I would like to add a request that in the next edition Mr Newington
includes recipes for the ever-popular mahmee and “Gula Malacca” in the
preparation of which most Europeans are quite ignorant.
186 Hallo, what you want, ah? No lah,
cannot. I’m watching movie one. No, cannot what. Show damn good. Yeah, after
show, can. We go for makan. Can, no problem.&
, 7 March, 32
[A] hot makan spot for diners who value the opportunity to enjoy robust
Singaporean flavours in a lavish and comfortable
setting.& 2006 Stephanie Yap
, vol. 2, 190 chari. T to go
to try to find. .. Often with special reference to the quest of a
livelihood.]
3 September, A23 [T]hey arrived in Sabah to cari makan, as the saying
goes, or to eke out a living. .. Sabahans do not begrudge them the right to
cari makan. Rather, their fear is that the foreigners will usurp their
political birthright.
'mɑk?t??k?);
aunt younger than one’s father or mother ():
mak, ma’ aunt or elderly lady treated as a mother by
informal adoption (Wilkinson) +
chik, chi’ = kechik, kechil minor, junior, lesser]
Mal.& (A polite term of address for) a middle-aged or elderly Malay
woman who may or m a Malay ‘’.&
, vol. 1, 225 chik. M
lesser. In expressions like ma’chik (younger of two aunts).. Also chi’.
Short for kěchil or kěchik.& 1955 R.J. Wilkinson
, vol. 2, 715 ma’. Mother. Also mak
and ěmak. More familiar than ibu or bonda; used also to
aunts and old ladies treated as mothers by informal adoption. .. maternal aunt
(.. ma’chi’..)& 1963
Richard Winstedt
224 m. [mak] tua,
m. (su)long aunt older than one’ m.
muda, m. (kě)chik aunt younger..]
December, 47 It could be the ah pek, ah soh, ah chek, or
even the pakcik or makcik – this syndrome [of] seat-patting spans
all the major races in Singapore (well, all right, I have yet to see an ang
moh doing so), transcending sex, educational level and age.& 2006
Juliana June Rasul
25 July, 30 Don’t let the glamour shots fool you. Sheila Majid is a makcik
(auntie) on the phone. A conversation with her is peppered with aiyohs
and lahs, which quickly undermine any expectations of diva-like
behaviour.& 2006 Chua Mui
Zack Zainal)
Siti Khalijah Zainal)
'mɑla?); Mand.
Khaw Boon Wan)
'mɑmɑ(k));
Minangkabau & Negri Sembilan Mal., a polite form of address to
half-Indian half-Malay elders ()
??????ā??????
derog.& An Indian person.
2005 Colin Chee
12 July. We were comfortable calling each other names. Our Punjabi friends
became ‘Ba-ees’. Our Indian pals were ‘Mamaks’, our Malay friends were ‘Oi-Ahmad’,
and our Eurasian friends were ‘Gragos’. And they would all call us ‘Chinks’ or
‘Paleface’.
'mɑmɑ, 'mɑmɑ(k)]
Also mama stall, mamak stall.& A sundry shop or general
provision shop, traditionally operated by Indians.
Abdul Bashir Saidek)
mɑ?'ɡɑli
'mɑnd?ɑ);
(Johor & Penang Mal.) spoilt (of child, girl); manjakan spoil, coddle ()]&
A v. Adore, coddle, spoil.& B a. Easily affected emotionally, sensitive.
A 2008 Tan Chek Wee
15 August, 40. To manja something, in colloquial Singlish, is to adore
B 2006 Clara Chow (quoting
Ovidia Yu)
'mɑsɑk?)]
, vol. 2, 745 masak. .. cooked (of
food).. Měmasak: to be engaged in cooking. Masak is not used of
boiling the rice to be eaten wi m. [masak] nasi
means to cook the dinner, tanak nasi is to boil the rice for it. M.
is used rather of preparing the <>.. Masak-masakan are cooked dishes
served up with rice..]
(quoting Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong)
17 March. Biomed drive isn’t masak-masak: PM [title] .. “This is not just masak-masak
(playing house), this is serious business and serious work, internationally
recognised,” said Mr Lee, who noted that the Government had given careful
thought before investing public funds in research and development.
mɑt?); Arab.
.& Also attrib.
2008 Wong Kim Hoh
, vol. 2, 747 M. [Mat] Salleh:
nickname for a European.& 1963
Richard Winstedt
229 Mat Salleh a nickname
for Englishmen.]
? The derivation of the term from Datu Paduka Muhammad Salleh, known as ‘Mat
Salleh’ (see the quot. from The New Straits Times below) is doubtful:
it is unlikely that the name of a 19th-century North Borneo freedom fighter who
opposed British rule would come to be used to refer to his enemies. The
suggestion in the 2004 Straits Times quotation that Mat Salleh had
American descendants appears to be a misreading of text on the Knowledge
Jihad website (,
accessed on 13 August 2005).
9 March, 2. Remembering Mat Salleh. A permanent tribute to one of Sabah’s
earliest freedom fighters. Tucked away in the middle of a paddy field at Kampung
Tibabar in Tambunan, about 70km from Kota Kinabalu, is a concrete structure in
memory of Datu Paduka Mat Salleh. Better known as Mat Salleh, he initiated
nationalistic fervour and opposition to foreign rule. Between 1881 and 1941,
Sabah, then known as North Borneo, was under the London-based British North
Borneo Chartered Company's administration. The locals were unhappy due to
alleged exploitation and one man that stood up and led a rebellion against
British rule was Datu Paduka Muhammad Salleh better known as Mat Salleh. To the
British, he was a rebel but to locals, he was a warrior. He was killed in a gun
battle with the British police on Feb 1, 1900. Appropriately, in recognition of
Mat Salleh as one of Sabah’s earliest freedom fighters, the State Government
built a permanent memorial fort in a garden at the exact site where he was
killed at Kampung Tibabar in Tambunan. .. Outside the memorial, a monument with
a bronze plaque with a citation reads: “This plaque marks the site of Mat
Salleh’s Fort which was captured by the North Borneo Armed Constabulary on the
1st February 1900. During this engagement, Mat Salleh, who for six years led a
rebellion against the British Chartered Company administration, met his death.” Sabah Museum director Joseph Pounis Guntavid said the British had put up the
monument in remembrance of their success in ending the reign of Mat Salleh’s
rebellion to their rule. “But a search and study on Mat Salleh’s actions
strongly indicated that he was not a rebel but a warrior who went against
foreign rule, fighting for North Borneo’s self-government,” he said. He said it
was for this reason that the State Government opened the permanent memorial on
Sept 20, last year.]
, vol. 2, 748 m. [mata] kuching
(cat’ fruit, Nephelium maingayi..)..& 1963
Richard Winstedt
188 mata k. [kuching] (Nephelium
malaiense, a fruit popular with Malays.]
397 Appendix I. LIST OF THE FRUITS TO BE FOUND IN THE BAZAARS OF
THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS [compiled by Dr. Ward].& 401 Mata kuching .. (Not
ascertained) .. A small fruit growing in thick bunches, consisting of a rough
brownish-coloured round shell, containing a deep purple-coloured seed,
surrounded by a whitish, opalescent looking pulp like a cat’s eye, hence its
M much prized.&
1894 N.B. Dennys
137 Fruits. – A total list of
some 63 “fruits” has been compiled as indigenous to the Malay Peninsula. Some of
these, however, are repugnant to Europeans and seldom touched by Malays. The
following catalogue will be found to include all which are likely to come under
the notice of the ordinary resident or visitor:– .. Mata kuding..&
'mɑti); dead
(of living things, water, wind) ();
poss. & Arab. ??? māta, ?? maut to die, to perish, to lose life,
to become dead ()]&
An exclamation expr. that some thing or situation cannot be
rectified or undone, or that someone is sure to get into trouble for doing
something wrong.& See also
, 4 July. Medical certificates (MCs) issued by dentists are
indeed valid in so far as they certify that in the dentist’s opinion a person is
unfit for work or school for the period of time stated in the MC because of a
dental problem.& 2006 Tan
5 July. The “MC takers”, genuine and fake. The former have no choice because
their bosses only recognise MCs from a polyclinic – aware, probably, that their
employees would have had to waste half a day waiting.
mi: meēng (colloq.)
flour, wheaten flour (); Mand. miàn
noodles )]& Noodles made
from wheat flour, usu. yellow in colour.
see entry under
(LifeStyle) (from
), 11 June. .. Muslim favourites like prata and mee goreng..&
2006 Tan Hsueh Yun
(LifeStyle) (from
26 November. One forkful of the mee goreng and my dining companion and I were
trying to figure out what gives the dish such a wonderful kick. Turns out, it’s
a very solid sambal belacan. The dish isn’t overly sweet and the chef doesn’t go
crazy with the ketchup.& 2012
Thng Lay Teen
(SundayLife!), 7 October, 30 But it was the mee goreng ($4
for one or $6 for two persons) which caught my friend’s eye and I was glad I
changed my order. Every strand of noodle was evenly coated in a lovely gravy mix
of homemade chilli, chilli sauce and ketchup, with a most pleasing result.
(LifeStyle), 8 January, L4 [M]ee pok is typical Teochew
hawker fare where flat yellow noodles are drowned in chilli sauce and served
with fishballs, prawns, fish cake slices, minced pork, pork slices, herkeow
(minced pork in fish skin) and sinful cubes of pork lard. .. the noodles can
also come in the form of kway teow (flat white noodles) and mee kia (skinny
yellow noodles).& 2009 Tan
(LifeStyle), 11 January, 27 For such a humble dish, minced
pork noodles can really get people worked up. .. I always ask for mee kia or
skinny wheat noodles, chilli and extra vinegar.& 2 2006
Teo Pau Lin (quoting
Soh Gim Teik)
1 2008 Foong Woei Wan
(LifeStyle), 12 October, 32 [T]he ingredients [of bak chor mee] are cooked
to the right degree, from the mee pok (springy) to the liver (still red-rimmed
and rich-tasting).&
(LifeStyle), 8 January, L4 [M]ee pok is typical Teochew
hawker fare where flat yellow noodles are drowned in chilli sauce and served
with fishballs, prawns, fish cake slices, minced pork, pork slices, herkeow
(minced pork in fish skin) and sinful cubes of pork lard. .. the noodles can
also come in the form of kway teow (flat white noodles) and mee kia (skinny
yellow noodles).& 2006 Wong
(LifeStyle), 8 January, L4 The magic of good mee pok, a
dish probably unique to Singapore, lies in its various ingredients. The Teochew
dish is made with flat egg noodles and beansprouts which are blanched and then
tossed in lard and chilli sauce. Some hawkers add a splash of black vinegar to
lift up the taste. Toppings usually comprise fishballs, fishcake, lean pork,
minced pork and herkeow, a piece of fish paste with a minced-pork filling.& 2006
Charlie Tan
(National Day Supplement), 9 August, 17 Mee pok, dry.. I have it for
breakfast regularly. When I was a boy, my mother would buy us mee pok for 20
cents a bowl from a roadside stall. Chilli and lard are the two essential
ingredients that make this mee pok shiok. When I eat it and feel the springiness
of the noodles and the crunch of half-cooked bean sprouts, I’m happy.& 2006
Pang Kok Keong
(National Day Supplement), 9 August, 17 Fresh mee pok soup with lots of
freshly cut chilli padi and vinegar from my mother’s noodle stall in Jurong.
There’s a bite to the egg noodles while the soup is light yet full of flavour.
And the fishballs have great texture. It’s my ultimate comfort food.
tah Mand. gān (?)]& The dry
version of .
2005 Tay Yek Keak
), 7 August. I actually had no idea how contagious this
feeling of happy hunger was until I saw the movie Charlie And The Chocolate
Factory recently. The way Johnny Depp’s eyes (he plays a choc nut) widened when
he saw his river of chocolate is the same way mine react when I see my bowl of
mee pok tah.&
Sandra Leong
(SundayLife!),
si:?m?????);
according to
Siěm Siam, Thailand ()]& A Malay dish consisting of
savoury, sour and spicy sauce served with hard-boiled egg, dried beancurd, bean
sprouts and a wedge of lime.
2005 Theresa Tan
(Mind Your Body), 28 December, 13 I always thought mee
siam was a Malay dish, until I did this review. Originally a Thai invention
(Siam is the old name for Thailand), the dish has become a Nonya speciality
cooked by Malays, Indians and Chinese hawkers here. Mr Chew Keok Lye is a
Chinese hawker who learnt how to make this dish from one of his Malay friends
two decades ago and continues to improvise the recipe till this day. His version
is light, tasty and, best of all, not oily at all. This is because Mr Chew boils
the vermicelli, instead of frying it like most hawkers do. The piquant gravy is
made from a blend of dried shrimps, tamarind juice, bean paste, ginger, garlic,
onions and lemongrass. The first three items are a must, says Mr Chew, to get
the unique sweet, sour and salty taste. .. It is served with the usual dried
beancurd, beansprouts and egg.& 2011
Lee Hui Chieh
'soto, Ind.–Eng.); Jav. saoto, soto a soup
or stew made with bean sprouts, cabbage, chicken and soy sauce ()]& A Malay or Indonesian dish consisting of
shredded chicken, bean sprouts and noodles in a curry-flavoured soup.&
2011 Lee Hui Chieh
(LifeStyle), 1 November, C20 [T]he mee soto ($3 for yellow noodles in
chicken soup) I order.. is better than I remember when I had it earlier this
year. .. The hot soup has many layers of flavours and a perfect balance of
spices & not one outshines the others. ..
The dollop of piquant chilli also makes the broth a joy to slurp up. The chilli
complements the flavourful broth very well. I also like that the noodles here
are blanced before boiling soup is added to it, which ensures that it is as hot
as it can be.
Ruth Anne Keh)
(quoting Wong Hon Mun)
(LifeStyle), 30 July, L28 I would have mee tai mak (short, thick
noodles), either in soup or dry, with fishballs, pork balls or yong tau foo at
this noodles shop near my house. It’s very good.& 2006
Christopher Tan
(LifeStyle), 6 August, L26 Bee tai mak are stubby, thick white
noodles made of rice flour (typically mixed with other starches too, such as
tapioca flour), whose tapered ends make them look like giant headless
beansprouts. In Malaysia, they are known as lo shee fun, or “rat noodles” – an
apt description. .. A common option at fishball noodle stalls, bee tai mak can
also be used in any dish calling for fresh rice noodles, such as laksa, beef
noodles and Vietnamese noodle soups. There’s no logical reason you couldn't also
eat them in mee siam, curry mee or with kway chap gravy, say, though bear in
mind that they are more rustic than delicate in texture.& 2008
Huang Lijie
(LifeStyle), 12 October, 31 It may be short, stubby, and until
recently, enjoyed mostly by children, but the noodle mee tai mak is making a
gastronomic comeback. Once a staple in Teochew minced meat noodles and fishball
noodles, it is winning new fans with its multiple reincarnations in laksa, XO
sauce noodles and even the Peranakan meatball soup, bakwan kepiting. According
to Mr Ho Nyi Sing, 60, owner of Eng Heng Noodle Factory, which manufactures mee
tai mak, the noodle’s name in Teochew refers to the sieve-like basket that was
used in the past to make it. The noodle also goes by its Cantonese monicker [sic],
lo shi fun, or literally, rat noodles, because its cylindrical shape with
pointed ends is said to resemble the rodent’s tail. Mr Raymond Tan, 36, director
of Tan Seng Kee Foods, a noodle manufacturer here which has been making mee tai
mak for more than 70 years, says the noodle enjoyed a brief surge of popularity
in the early 1980s. He says: “There were many Malaysians working here then, so
hawkers sold stir-fried mee tai mak in dark sauce, which was a popular dish in
Malaysia.”
mé the a final interrogative particle (); Mand. ); compare
係咩 hai mé [Mand. xì miē] is it?;
噉样嘅咩 kòm yéung ké
mé [Mand. dàn yàng kài miē] is it thus? (Eitel)]
18 November, 40 I explained my theory to my Japanese and Taiwanese friends. “You
see,” I began, “the Chinese language has a phrase ‘you mei you gau cuo?’
which means ‘did you make a mistake?’. .. In Cantonese, it’s translated ‘yau
mo gau cor?’ and then simply ‘yao mo?’. So when Singaporeans took
this and transferred it into English, it literally became ‘got (have) meh?’.”
And thus, “got meh?” was born.& 2008
(LifeStyle),
2 November, 14 [L]ike the outcome’s ever in doubt, meh?& 2010
Fiona Chan
(LifeStyle),
22 August, 13 You got send [e-mail] meh? I never receive leh.& 2013
Tee Hun Ching
(SundayLife!),
7 October, 12 “Nice meh?” I would think sourly.
me? ts?a? cài vegetable, greens ()]& A type of salted, preserved vegetable used in Chinese
cooking. Known in Cantonese as
Thng Lay Teen
k?ou? rou? kòuròu a Chinese dish of
richly seasoned steamed pork: kòu knot, button + ròu meat,
flesh ()]& A Hakka dish consisting of fatty pork braised
with mei cai.
'm?:?l???n
Ulysses by the merlion.. But this lion of the sea / Salt-maned,
scaly, wondrous of tail, / Touched with power, insistent / On this brief
promontory... / Puzzles. .. The lion of the sea, / This image of themselves.&
9 May. When Singapore craftsman Lim Nang Seng was commissioned by then
Singapore Tourist Promotion Board to construct the Merlion statue in 1972, he
roped in all eight of his children to help. .. The family took three months to
complete the 8.6m-tall, 70-tonne cement Merlion statue, working till late into
the night using kerosene lamps for light before returning to their three-room
flat in Bukit Merah. There was no proper scaffolding built and both brothers
[Lim’s sons] recall being very frightened when they were working on the
Merlion’s head. .. As the Merlion was located at the mouth of the Singapore
River, Mr Lim had to run to the Satay Club constantly on the opposite side of
the river, or hire a bumboat to go out into the mouth of the river, to check his
work. The Merlion statue was Mr Lim’s pride. ‘Even after completion, my father
would visit the Merlion almost every day,’ says Peter. ‘When the Merlion
couldn’t spurt water properly, he would be the first to call the authorities,’
adds Albert. Mr Lim even considered the Merlion his ninth child. &2005 Singapore Tourism Board website &&.
At the end of the 4th century A.D., Temasek was destroyed by the Siamese,
according to some historians, but by the Javanese according to others. As
recorded in the legend in the Malay Annals, Prince Nila Utama of the Sri Vijaya
empire rediscovered the island later in the 11th century A.D. On seeing a
strange beast (which he later learnt was a lion) upon his landing he named the
island Singapura which is a Sanskrit word for Lion (Singa) City (Pura).
The Merlion, with its fish-like body riding the waves of the sea, is symbolic of
the ancient city of Temasek. At the same time, its majestic head recalls the
legend of the discovery of Singapore by Prince Nila Utama in the 11th century,
when Singapore received its present name. ..
The Merlion was first built as an eight-metre tall sculpture in 1972 and was
located at the mouth of the Singapore River to “welcome all visitors to
Singapore”. Built by a local craftsman, Lim Nang Seng, who won several prizes in
the Singapore Handicraft and Design competition organised by the Singapore
Tourism Board (then known as the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board) in 1970, it
was commissioned for approximately $165,000 in 1971, and formally installed on
15 September 1972 by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the then Prime Minister.
The Merlion, a symbol to welcome all visitors to Singapore, has since moved. On
15 September 2002, it settled into its new home at Merlion Park, located next to
One Fullerton, overlooking scenic Marina Bay, with the park opened by Minister
Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.& 2006
Kate Smith
20 June. I would chain myself to the Merlion until I was given permanent
residence.& 2006
Neil Humphreys
51 How could I leave Sentosa without
watching its light-and-laser show, with musical fountains, dancing fountains,
and a fiery Merlion shooting green beams out into the night?& 2&2005
Hong Xinyi
(from ), 19 June. Merlion. Army use: People who
spew vomit after drinking copious amounts of alcohol to celebrate the end of
their national service. Civilian use: People who spew vomit.& B 2005
Hong Xinyi
(from ), 19 June. After drinking 20 tequila
shots in half an hour, he Merlioned.& 2005
Lorraine Lim
September. When it comes to cultural icons, Singapore can boast many contenders.
Yet, instead of inspiring pride, many Singaporeans appear to have a love-hate
relationship with some of these symbols. The Merlion, for example, is already
well established in the local vernacular: It means “to vomit”. That suggests how
much respect there is for the nation’s No 1 tourism symbol.
Zhōngqīu Jié: zhōng middle, mid + qīu autumn +
jié festival]& A Chinese festival held on the 15th day of the eighth
lunar month (usu. in mid- to late-September of the Gregorian calendar) around
the date when the moon is at its fullest in the year. Traditions associated with
the festival include appreciating the beauty of the moon [Mand.
赏月 shǎngyuè: shǎng admire, enjoy,
appreciate + yuè the moon] the preparation, giving and
and the carrying of lanterns by children.& Also known as the
? The festival may have originated from mid-autumn harvest celebrations, or from
ancient ceremonies held in honour of the moon or the moon goddess, Cháng’é
嫦娥. It appears that the latter custom
can be traced as far back as the ancient Xia Dynasty [Mand.
夏朝 Xìa Cháo] (c.2070–) and Shang Dynasty [Mand.
商朝 Shāng Cháo] (c.1600–). There are varying accounts of
the Chinese legend of Chang’e, but one version known at least since the Period
of the Warring States [Mand. 战国 Zhàn Guó] (475–) is that Chang’e and Houyi
were immortals in heaven. The ten sons of the Jade Emperor [Mand.
玉皇大帝 Yǜ Huáng Dà Dì], the ruler of heaven,
transformed themselves into ten suns, scorching the earth. Having failed to stop
his sons from destroying the earth, the Jade Emperor summoned Houyi for help.
Houyi, using his archery skills, shot down nine of the suns, becoming a hero.
This aroused the jealousy of some immortals, who slandered Houyi before the Jade
Emperor. The Jade Emperor thus banished Houyi and Chang’e to live as mortals on
&&&& This version of the
legend goes on to state that Houyi, sorry that
had to lead a mortal’s life for his sake, went on a long and perilous journey to
obtain a pill of immortality the Queen Mother of the West [Mand.
西王母 Xī Wáng Mǔ], the ruler of the western
paradise and the goddess of immortality, so that he and
Míng Cháo] (1368–– Yuán Cháo] (1271–
reprinted from the China Press (Malaysia) (from
), 13 August. August, a month that is a prelude to the
Chinese mid-autumn festival, can also be said to be a month of national day
celebrations. Malaysia’s National Day is on Aug 31, while that of Singapore
falls on Aug 9.&
2006 Clarissa Oon (quoting
Lu Jichun)
10 June. [Chinese] [o]fficials and experts have suggested raising the status of
traditional Chinese festivals like the Dragon Boat and Mid-Autumn, putting them
on a par with the Spring Festival and Chinese New Year. .. ‘When children today
think of the Dragon Boat Festival, all they can think of is eating zongzi. For
the Mid-Autumn Festival, they can only think of eating mooncakes.’
+ dinosaur, poss. & the fact that the brown Milo powder resembles earth]&
An iced milk-based beverage of Milo topped with Milo powder sprinkled on the
.. Your parents probably drank MILO when they were
children too, as MILO has been around since 1934. For some time Nestle had been
trying to develop a chocolate energy drink, but had been having problems
creating a fully dry product. It was a research team, headed by Thomas Mayne,
who finally hit on the idea of using the latest vacuum shelf drying technology.
The following year, MILO was launched at the Sydney Royal Easter Show to instant
acclaim and popularity.
g?d'z?l?; Eng. Milo (see
Milo Dinosaur) + Eng. Godzilla,
a fictional gigantic dinosaur-like monster with the body and tail of a
tyrannosaurus covered in rough grey scales, the long arms of an iguanodon and
the dorsal f the name
was first used in the
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) directed by Inoshiro Honda
() and was an alteration of Jap.
-t?ino) topped with
frothed milk like a cappuccino.& Compare
2006 Colin Goh
(LifeStyle) (from ), 10 September. [A]t many late-night supper
spots, the suffix ‘-ccino’ is added to a bewildering array of frothy beverages,
from the ‘Tehccino’ to the ‘Miloccino’. I once even heard someone ask the
waiter: ‘I want Horlicks. Can make it ccino, one?’
, vol. 1, 25 Aminah. Ar. A proper name
shortened commonly to Minah or Nah. It was the name of
the Prophet’s mother.& vol. 2, 775 Minah. Ar. A feminine proper
short for Aminah..]
(quoting Siti Khalijah
m?? ??ɑ? k?e? ming7 powder made from
ground grain +
煎 ziang1 cook food in a small
amount of hot oil + 粿 guê2 a steamed
foodstuff, with or without a filling, made from rice flour and water kneaded
together into soft pieces that are impressed into various shapes using moulds (); Mand. miàn wheat flour + jiān fry in shallow
oil + guǒ (literary language) powder made from rice or wheat ()]&
A Chinese dessert consisting of a thick folded pancake filled with sweetened
crushed peanuts or, more recently, other fillings.
2005 Teo Pau Lin
(LifeStyle), 3 April, L26 Ming jiang kueh, the peanut-filled
pancake from the days of our grandparents, has been enjoying a revival of late.
.. Widely known to have originated from China’s Guangdong province, the snack
was brought by Chinese immigrants to places like Singapore, Sabah, Penang and
Jakarta from the turn of the 20th century. Translated literally, ming jiang kueh
is Teochew for “flour pan-fried cake”. It is pronounced as mang chang kueh in
Hokkien. .. [H]ow does the new breed of ming jiang kueh actually taste? Done
the old-fashioned way, the new chains cook their pancakes fresh on the spot
using big, round iron pans. Then, they spread on the peanut and sugar filling,
flip half of the pancake over, and cut in into slices.& 2006
Hannah Tan
(LifeStyle) (from
4 June. Competition is giving a new fillip to traditional snack ming chiang kueh
(pancakes).. The pancake has evolved beyond simple red bean and peanut versions
to tuna, chilli shrimp and chicken floss types.& 2007
Arlina Arshad
consisting of pastry impressed with a patterned mould and filled with
(lotus seed
paste), hard-boiled duck egg yolks,
Nán Sòng Cháo] (1127–
Lu Jichun)
10 June. When children today think of the Dragon Boat Festival, all they can
think of is eating zongzi. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, they can only think of
eating mooncakes.& 2006 Teo
(LifeStyle) (from
10 September. Mr Tan Chock Soon gets incensed each time the annual Mid-Autumn
Festival rolls around. He likes his mooncakes made the traditional way – plain
lotus seed paste with one salted egg yolk. But each year, he is greeted by
newfangled flavours that get ever more bewildering. ‘Ice cream, durian, wasabi,
is there really a need to be so modern?’ asks Mr Tan.. Hand-made mooncakes have
thinner and softer skins, because they are individually wrapped by hand around
fillings, before they are shaped inside wooden moulds and baked. .. Opened about
70 years ago in Chinatown, this old-world shop [Tai Chong Kok] specialises in
Cantonese-style pastries. During Mid-Autumn Festival, its Cantonese-style
mooncakes – the type with lotus seed paste wrapped with a thin layer of baked
skin – attracts long queues. .. It also sells snowskin versions and filling
options include red bean paste and green bean paste. .. This 60-year-old bakery
[Thye Moh Chan Cake House] specialises in Teochew-style mooncakes, which are
characterised by their flaky skins. They come in three different sizes. The
small ones.. are filled with a mixture of candied winter melon, sesame seeds,
orange peel and red bean. The medium ones.. are about the size of your open
palm, and are filled with the same mixture. There is a durian option, too.. The
largest one.. is flat and only 1cm thick, filled with chewy malt sugar paste. ..
Hokkien-style mooncakes.. are similar to the Cantonese ‘wife biscuit’, filled
with candied winter melon paste and have a slightly salty taste..
+ /muf-?-det,
n. [corruption of Eng. hermaphrodite] Eurasian slang&
An effeminate male.& See also ,
, ch. 8. ‘A mugger’ – a comprehensive term understood to
include all persons with an ambition for University distinction.& 1900
H.G. Wells
, ch. 8, 77 That beast Lewisham – awful swat...
Frightful mugger.& 2003
mu:e? t??? mui [...] + 菜 choy
[...]; Mand. méi ferment + cài vegetable, greens ()]& The Cantonese name for
2008 Chris Tan
(LifeStyle), 16 November, 28 Once upon a time, preserved
items such as kiam chye, mui choy and chai poh would have been homemade by every
Chinese family for its daily consumption. They are not as easy to make as they
might seem, requiring successive rounds of drying, seasoning, salting, brining
or steaming.
??????????????)]
'm?n??n??????
??????????
ma?jolu????
m?t?'bɑk?
'm?r?k?????????,
); a writhing, a kind of cake ()]& A South Indian snack food made of dough from
chick-pea, rice or wheat flour, or a mixture, flavoured with spices such as
asafoetida, chilli, cumin and sesame seeds, which is then twisted into a
noodle-like strand, coiled into a flat spiral shape, and deep
2006 Vasanthan Govindasamy
24 October. Deepavali would mean a celebration not only for us but also for the
entire row of residents. Auntie Norma helped my mother with her “murukus”, while
she made some Malay kuih.& 2008
Wang Hui Fen
(Life!), 28 October, B6 Preparations for the celebration
[of ] start weeks before with a spring cleaning of the home. New
clothes are bought, and women make cakes, sweetmeat and other tidbits – the
favourite being murukku.& 2014
9 My’s One The use of this indicates that “my” is more
powerful than “mine” and therefore “my’s one” is the strongest possessive of
all. As opposed to “Your’s one.” This is not “mine,” but “my’s one!” in a raised
2009 Huang Wenwu
17 April. I was reading at a bookstore but was interrupted when a kid cried out:
“That is my one!” I shuddered. Where did she pick up such grammar? One wonders
if we’ve made any progress from 20 years ago, when I recall such Singlish
phrases were commonplace at my kindergarten.}