Usage of English Technical Terms
Since English is the main working and educational language of Singapore, many Chinese Singaporeans are more familiar with the English professional terminology (technical terms) used at work, rather than that of Mandarin. This led to many Chinese Singaporeans tending to mix large number of English professional terms into Mandarin at work, instead of using Chinese technical terms. As such, a form of Singdarin spoken at work appears, resulting in some degree of communication barrier at work between the Chinese Singaporeans and the Chinese from China or Taiwan.
Comparison between Singdarin spoken at work in Singapore and Mandarin spoken at work in China is shown below:
| Loanwords | Standard Mandarin words | Definition | Notes | Example of usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| buay tahan | 受不了 | cannot tolerate | formed by combination of Hokkien word "beh 袂" (cannot) and Malay word "tahan" (tolerate) | 哇！袂 tahan 咧! (wa, be tahan leh) |
| sibeh | 非常 | very/damn | originate from Teochew (死爸, literally meaning dead father and hence in such a context, "on my dead father") and has the general meaning of 'damn'. | sibeh sian！ |
| walau eh | 我的天啊！ | my gosh/oh my god | originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "gua lan eh 我老呃" (literally 'my father's (dick)'). "wa lau eh" is a more polite variant of it. | walau eh, 你怎么可以这样？ |
| guai lan | 令人讨厌的家伙 | annoying/irritating person | originate from Singaporean Hokkien vulgar word "guai lan 怪膦" (literally 'strange dick'). | 他sibeh guai lan的! |
| sua ku | 井底之蛙 | someone who has not been exposed to the society and is not well-informed about many things | from Hokkien word "suaku 山龟" (literally "tortoise on the mountain") | 这个人很sua ku! |
| salah | 错/坏掉了 | incorrect/something went wrong | from Malay | 电脑salah了 ! |
| ulu | 偏僻 | remote | from Malay | 这个地方这么 ulu ，连个人影都没有! |
| terok | 難搞/困难 | troublesome | from Malay | 那位顾客sibeh terok! |
| jinjiat jialat | 非常(真假)麻烦 | really difficult | from Malay | 那個狀況jinjiat jialat! |
| Singdarin spoken at work in Singapore | Mandarin spoken at work in China | English translation | ||
| 你的cable tray 要从 ceiling 上走。 | 你的电线桥架要在吊顶天花板上铺设。 | Your cable tray needs to be lined up along the ceiling | ||
| Server room 里面的 fire sprinkler 拆了，你们的 fire department 会allow吗？ | 机房里面的消防喷淋拆了，你们的消防部门会批准吗？ | If you dismantle the fire sprinkler inside the server room, will the fire department approve it? |
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