© 2020 All-Rights Reserved Weekender Group Pte Ltd

5 Singlish Words We Can’t Believe Are In The Oxford Dictionary

You can now say you're blur and it'll be perfectly acceptable English

By Pamela Chow

It was amusing enough that "la" and "kampong" were previously added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) - now, even more Singlish words have been inducted into the official this-is-acceptable-English list.

Now, Microsoft Word, please stop trying to correct my Singlish. If this can help cement Singaporean identity, I'd say it's rather "shiok" - I'm sorry, I mean, shiok.

2 of 5

(Photo: happy-tv.com)

2. Sabo

Have you ever tried to explain to your foreign boss that you got sabo by your colleague, but she or he just couldn’t see what a big deal it was? “You mean sabotage?” – They probably asked.

No. We don’t mean sabotage. This is sabo – getting screwed over to an order of high magnitude. And now that it’s in the OED, you can flip to its definition in vindication and show your boss just how messed up the situation is.

Even OED recognises how grave sabo is – it has added three entries just for this word.

Sabo (noun): “The action of intentionally causing inconvenience, trouble, or harm to others, esp. to gain a personal advantage. Also: the playing of tricks or pranks.”

Sabo (verb): “To harm, inconvenience, or make trouble for (a person), esp. to gain a personal advantage. Also: to trick, play a prank on.”

Sabo king: “a person who causes inconvenience, trouble, or harm to others, esp. to gain a personal advantage; (also) a prankster.” Interestingly, OED states that “sabo king” is the earliest recorded use of the word “sabo”.

2 of 5

ADVERTISEMENTS