Aiyo/Aiya

Aiyo/Aiya

Origin: Chinese/Singlish – used as a form of exclamation before a full sentence

Aiyo and aiya are often used as an exclamation remark before one put across his/her sentence to express displeasure, frustration or unhappiness. They are derived from the chinese words 哎唷 (aiyo) and 哎呀 (aiya) and are similar to “oh no” or “ouch” in english. However, there are a variety of uses for them in the singlish language.

They can also be spelled as aiyoh and aiyah respectively.

Exclamation:

Aiyo: Aiyo!!! Ah Beng!!! How many time must I tell you not to throw your dirty socks on the sofa!!

Aiya: Aiya!! Why you so stressed over such a small thing? Just let things go naturally lor.

Leave a Reply

5 × 1 =