A lesson in Singlish
“I can’t understand what Singaporeans say sometimes,” the kangaroo declared in exasperation yesterday after he finished a trying conversation with his Singapore accountant’s assistant. He cast a meaningful eye at me and quipped, “I wonder why…?”
I cracked up. True, I don’t use Singlish (Singapore English) with him because he just wouldn’t understand me, or if he did, he would imitate me.
So what was it that he didn’t get?
“Eh?” is what he hears when Singaporeans pick up the phone. I assured him it wasn’t a grunt but a quick, “’Ello?”
“I sen it” means “I am sending it”. The kangaroo was puzzled and asked if she had already sent the email or if she was sending it at the time they were speaking. I told him if she had sent it, she would say, “I sen already.”
Debating about language is a fun thing for us as a mixed couple. I’ll be flying to Sydney in about three weeks and I wonder what I’ll pick up from the Aussies this time…
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