Words With Different Meaning in Malaysian English
Some words and phrases used in Malaysia have different meanings than in British or American English.
| Word / Phrase | Malaysian meaning | American / British meaning |
|---|---|---|
| parking lot | parking space | parking garage (US) |
| photostat | a photocopier; also used as a verb meaning "to photocopy" | a historical copying machine using a camera and photographic paper, which was superseded by the photocopier. See Photostat machine. |
| flat | low-cost apartment or flat | apartment (US) |
| apartment | medium-cost apartment or flat | flat (UK) |
| condominium | high-cost apartment or flat | commonhold (UK) |
| to follow | to accompany, e.g. "Can I follow you?" meaning "Can I come with you?" or, "I will follow you." meaning "I will come with you." | to go after or behind, e.g. "The police car was following me." |
| to revert | to come back (reply) to someone, e.g. "I had sent our clients an email this morning, but they have yet to revert." | to return to a previous state, e.g. "We reverted to our initial plan of hosting the party in a restaurant." |
| to send | to take someone somewhere, e.g. "Can you send me to the airport?" | to cause something to go somewhere without accompanying it, e.g. "I sent this letter to my grandma." |
| blur | condition of a person who is dazed, confused, appears mentally slow, e.g. "You look very blur right now, take a break." | vague, visually indistinct, e.g. "Everything is just a blur when I take my spectacles off." |
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