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used as a verb meaning "to photocopy" | a historical copying machine using a camera and photographic paper, which was superseded by the photocopier.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." |
Read more about this topic: Malaysian English
Famous quotes containing the words words, meaning and/or english:
“Today democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore we frankly abolish them. In the future each man will serve the interest of the state with absolute obedience. Let him who refuses beware.”
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)
“The indefatigable pursuit of an unattainable perfection—even though nothing more than the pounding of an old piano—is what alone gives a meaning to our life on this unavailing star.”
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946)
“The explanation of the propensity of the English people to portrait painting is to be found in their relish for a Fact. Let a man do the grandest things, fight the greatest battles, or be distinguished by the most brilliant personal heroism, yet the English people would prefer his portrait to a painting of the great deed. The likeness they can judge of; his existence is a Fact. But the truth of the picture of his deeds they cannot judge of, for they have no imagination.”
—Benjamin Haydon (1786–1846)