Bao The Mountain, Bao the Sea Origin: Hokkien – The chinese-english description of the Hokkien phrase “Bao Sua Bao Hai” “Bao the Mountain , Bao the Sea” (包山包海) is the chinese-english equivalent of the hokkien phrase “Bao Sua Bao Hai”. It literally translates to cover the mountain and cover the sea. It is usually used […]
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BGR – Boy Girl Relationship
BGR – Boy Girl Relationship Origin: Acronym/Abbreviation – stands for Boy Girl Relationship BGR is an acronym for “Boy Girl Relationship”. This is used to describe young couples/teenagers who are in a relationship.
Buay Tahan
Buay Tahan Origin: Hokkien/Malay – means unable to withstand/tolerate any longer. Buay (Hokkien) for “cannot” and tahan (malay) for “withstand” combines together to give the expression that one can no longer withstand or tolerate any longer. It has a similar meaning to the malay phrase “tak boleh tahan” where “tak boleh” means cannot.
Botak
Botak Origin: Malay – a word to describe someone that is bald Botak is used to describe someone that is bald and is also used to describe a balding person. It is also commonly used to describe someone who has just gotten a crew cut, especially new recruits to the Singapore Army. Commonly paired with […]
Blur Like Sotong
Blur Like Sotong Origin: Singlish – literal translation is as blur as a squid; used for describing a clueless person. Blur Like Sotong is used to describe a person that is totally clueless to the events happening around him/her.
Bobo Shooter
Bobo Shooter Origin: Army Lingo/Singlish – a term to describe a person who is unable to aim properly and hit the target. Bobo shooter is used to describe someone that is always off target when it comes to firing a weapon. This term is frequently used in the army where soldiers go for their annual shooting (range) where […]
BTO – Build-To-Order
BTO Origin: Acronym – BTO stands for Build-To-Order BTO is an acronym that stands for Build-To-Order and this refers to new public housing/flats in Singapore offered by HDB (Housing Development Board of Singapore). BTO sales typically runs quarterly throughout the year. (depends on demand as well)
Borrow Me
Borrow Me Origin: English/Singlish – broken english phrase used for borrowing something. Borrow me is wrongly used as a phrase when asking someone to lend an item. Instead of asking “Can I borrow your book?” or “Can you lend me your book?” , “borrow me” is often wrongly used in day-to-day conversation.