Manglish moment
I am laughing so hard inside as I write this. I am suppressing my laughter lest the rest of the household (and possibly my neighbours) will think I have gone mad.
I was making my rounds to some blogs I have not visited in a while. The minute I saw his latest post title, I was hooked. It lifted my rather dull Saturday night at home (watching re-runs of movies I've seen a million times).
This hilarious post brought me home - back to the days when hearing this 'language' was a norm. Here's an excerpt of his post.
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Kamon-lah, Tok Manglish OK?
Aitelyu ah, nemmain wat deblardigarmen say, mose Malaysians tok Manglish. Bekoswai? Bekos we all shai oni to to spik prawper English - arfturds peeple ting we trying to action oni. But Manglish is best-lah when you want to seemply tokkok like fren-fren, lah. Donkair you Malay or Chinese or Indian or everyting miksup. At the mamak stall, in the awfis, sitting araun in the kopi-shop, we Malaysians orways tok like dis wan-kain oni - got kick wat! 
You want to tokkok osoken, no problem, we gifchan you forrin flers, lah. Seemply by-heart the following list of pawpular Manglish words and phrases - and very soon oridi you can go araun blarfing like tera oni.
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To read the list of "pawpular Manglish words and phrases", please visit this brilliant and funny writer's blog - ADOI! - The digital reincarnation of a national bestseller by KIT LEEE (now known as ANTARES).
44 comments:
I oso dono lah. Sam taim ken tok English in own negeri dailek samore. And oh, don foget all the 'lah'. Manglish at its best!!
Whatever lah...
Haha..thats a good one. Thanks for sharing it..after all..its Monday..:)
Hi,
Saw your name at Pak Zawi's site; and I bloghopped from there.
Nice post. Manglish is my problem whan talking to people out there. But the case doesn't apply when I am to write things. Perhaps it is because speaking and writing is to very different things.
Will come again. I hope you don't mind if I blogroll you(",).
Good day! Looking forward your next posts(",)
Hi JT,
Yes this is hilarious.
But really in the past we laughed as it was novelty. Today, manglish in reality is so widespread and so common. That is the 'pawper ingrish' today...ooh...it gives me the goosebumps lah JT!
Kit Leee is a talented writer. I met him briefly at a dinner this early this year. He is what I call 'Bohemian'. Interesting character.
it took me a while to understand what he was trying to say... in the end... i got it... think i am a true blue malaysian lol!
jt,
The Singaporeans have Singlish while we Malaysians have Manglish. Its just like The Pidgin of Papua new Guinea right? Can we consider as another English dialect? Why not use it cos it will increase the languages of the world. Only those who speak it regularly can understand them. After all a language is just a communication tool. As long as you can understand each other who cares?
Singapore have the Singlish.
Eg:-
Blarder -brother
Kiasu and kiasee - do not want to loose out
noe - know
Sotong - blur person
Where got ?
Got meh ?
Can or not ?
Just a sample of them. Just think how it will be like when the two countries meet.
Manglish and Singlish :)
He he he he he he...
Laughter is still the best medicine, at least it is to me!
dear JT, this is so fantastic! wiped out my monday blues away almost immediately! i laffed till i almost cried! so kelakar one! heheheheh, thx for sharing! heheheh i cant stop laffing still!
That IS hilarious, Jacqui. Manglish slips through my tongue all the time and I end up having "Manglish vs Americanism" chats with whoever it spills on. :)
Thanks for the flashback!
Hey JT:
Here we have Hinglish (Hindi and English) which is equally funny. Ask me to speak only in Hindi and I'll slip. Only in English - No problem. Hinglish rules for most people. Adds the local flavor. :)
Hi Pi
Somehow, for me, it is easier to spik rather than write Manglish.
Thanks to Antares, I now have a compact glossary of common words and phrases to help me, if the need arises.
The las taim I spik tera Manglish was during my holiday in Malaysia (early this year). Aitelyu ah, I hear udder flers spik, I oso join in. Luckily, the forrin fler living with me never hear me spik like dis, if not defler sure confuse wan. :D
Hi Nightwing
Glad I lifted your Monday. NO chance for the blues to set in. It sure helps, doesn't it? ;)
Cheers!
Hi Akmal
Welcome to my blog. :)
I agree that speaking and writing Manglish is just two different things.
We take extra caution not to write the slang we speak ... well, at least from what I have seen in the business world (which makes up a huge chunk in our lives). :D
We have to be proper-lah, if not some flers won't understand.
Thanks for dropping by and look forward to seeing you here regularly.
Hi ... again ... Akmal :)
Thanks for blog-rolling me. It is an honour. I will do the same for you.
(P.S. Thanks to Zawi for "bringing" you here).
By the way, I like the music you have playing on your blog. Very soothing. Hearing it makes me miss my piano back home in Malaysia.
See you around. :)
Hi Ruby
I know what you mean. It is a novelty turned nightmare. :D
Whenever I used it, just for fun, my mom would correct me. She said if I gave in to that slang, it will become a norm. Still, sometimes just for laughs, I threw in a word or two to lighten the mood. :) Mom chuckled but quickly corrected me.
Oh! I did not dare try it with dad. He would have probably rubbed chilli on my mouth. hahaha
Anyway, it may be "prawper Ingrish" to some but most of us know it will not make the cut where proper English is required to be spoken and written.
I totally agree with you - Kit Leee is a talented writer. "Bohemian" best describes him.
Hi Zewt
If anyone could understand that (no matter how long he took), one is a true blue Malaysian or has been Malaysian-ised. :)
Hi Zawi
I found out online that Tok Pisin, or Pidgin, is one of the three national languages of Papua New Guinea. It is the most widely used language in the country, along with English and Motu.
With Manglish being so widespread now, I won't be surprised if it is already, unofficially, the other language of Malaysia. Sure, it can be a communication tool for people who understand it - among the locals, that is. Nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day, the goal is that everyone understands each other.
However in our global world today, to include others in our communications, we still need English (and possibly a splatter of other widely used languages) to get a message across. :)
i love talking manglish but only w my frens lah. furthermore, only they wud understand wht im talking abt. cant even make jokes w hubby using manglish coz he wont get it. lol!
Hello Aiyah Nyonya
Thanks for the list. I never knew that word "sotong" means a blur person. :) I learn something new everyday.
I am now picturing a group of Manglish-speaking and Singlish-speaking flers sitting araun in a kopi shop and tokking like wan kain. hahaha
Hi Elviza
You've got that right! Laughter is indeed the best medicine.
This Manglish thing just tickles me. I am still laughing and it is already Monday afternoon here. :)
Dear Mush
Glad your Monday blues never had a chance to set in.
It is definitely kelakar. We have Antares to thank for this good laugh.
Take a deep breath and continue laughing. :D
Hi Rita
Sometimes little words like "lah", "where got?", "ya lah", and "yes ah" manage to slip out when I am on the phone with my Malaysian relatives or friends but have managed not to speak Manglish with the other half. Poor chap will look confused. :)
Glad that you had a good flashback, as I did, with this post.
Hey Rashi
That is interesting - Hinglish. There's something about the fusion of languages that adds flavour to any culture. It is unique and most importantly, it belongs to the community where it was created.
Hi Princess Farina
Oh yes... a Manglish joke with my hubby will be a wasted effort too. LOL!
Jacqui ... I wish I could control my lahs, mahs and or-nots as well as you. My other half is the opposite of yours. He used to work at Microsoft where a huge portion of his colleagues were from India, China, Thailand, Philippines, etc. So he'll come home speaking Rashi's Hinglish or some lingo-lish to challenge my Manglish. It is fun but can be irritating at times. I pity anyone who tries to decipher our chat at those moments. LOL!
JT...Muahahahahaha... My God! Those are hilarious! Muahahahaha...
Ha-ha. JT so faniwan. Wat? No, I notchetyet go to his blog..
jt,
My Inglish is not so good lah. I feel so shy one talking to people -I'm still learning (academic line some more) but I've got to say dis - am proud of the lahs, mahs, lors,or whatnots. Heheheheh!
I could never copy down the Cockney accent or the Queen's English but I sure can speak MalayIndo now!
BTW, I really need to carefully pronounce each sentence in order to 'understand' the whole entry. Hilarious you said!
haiya...i oso tok like dis one arr. who cares if people laf laf at me...i don care lah if i tok rojak...i like rojak what...u blady hell one lah
ohh..i forgot to add one more thing - can't challenge the kelantanese talk english in their dialect...u dont wanna know how it sound out...hahaha!
Hi JT, wa lidis kine manglish I oso not be knowing ohh. I tink tink pun otak ta center, but got laf laf one.
Sugee cake.
Hi Rita
I can just imagine the conversations with your husband. That's quite a smorgasbord of languages. :D
We tend to 'make fun' of the southern accents here. :)
Hi Raden
I see that Antares' article has made you laugh hard.
I am still laughing. I don't think I will ever get tired of reading this article. It really does tickle me hard. :)
Hi Mat Salo
Indeed, very faniwan. :D
You should check out Antares' other posts too. They're good - informative and entertaining. :)
Hi Rad
I think we all grew into the 'lahs', 'mahs' and what-nots, naturally. We simply cannot get rid of it easily. In fact, I over use it whenever I am back in Malaysia for a holiday. :D
Hi KC
If your fren all talk like dat wan, then you are in good company. No one will laf-laf at you. :D
Sometimes I like to tembak when I am on the phone with a Malaysian. Feels like I am back home.
Oh yeah, KC...
It would be a treat to hear - a Kelantanese speaking English in their dialect. I am imagining it because I lived in KB, Kelantan for nine years before moving out to Klang. (even attempted some words - failed miserably!) :D
Hello Anonymous a.k.a. Sugee Cake
Manglish has evolved over the years. Well, at least I think so. I don't remember it being this 'heavy' when I was in school.
I believe for one who does not use or hear Manglish daily, it will take some effort trying to decipher it. :)
Thanks for dropping by again.
Kakakakakakaaaa....we Mayshians do talk our own unique way. Let's celebrate our idiosyncracies...it makes us...well, us!
Cool post Jacq!
Hi Jacqui,
Wakakaka...Velly syiok oh dis stolly...Huh...Like PCK tokking...
Can you imagine we go to the States etc and say, while bargaining: "GifChan lar Brader. So espensif. My fadder veli kiamsiap-ong"
Pengsan itu orang =)
Hi Galadriel
Manglish definitely makes us ... us! :)
When we are overseas and suddenly we hear that familiar 'language', we will know we have fellow Malaysians in our midst.
I experienced that during the World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany. I tell you, it was so good to hear something familiar. :D
Hi Daphne
I have never tried using Manglish in the States and I don't think I will try to do that anytime soon. I am just imagining the confused look I will get. That makes the duration of the transaction go painfully longer. :D
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