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© Jack Tsen-Ta Lee
Last updated on 11 April 2013 (12 headwords). No reproduction without permission.

eat salt v. phr. [Eng. transl. of Mand. 吃盐 chīyán: chī eat + yán salt]  Suffer a bitter or serious setback.
2004 Janadas Devan The Straits Times (Very! Singapore), 9 August, 20 ‘[E]at salt’.. a bitter setback..

ee /ee, e/ int. [natural sound; or poss. Cant. é [ + 挨: the Chi. character cannot be displayed due to software limitations] an interrogative suffix; whining (Eitel)] often nursery.  Also ee-yer.  An exclamation expr. disgust.
2000 Samuel Lee The Straits Times (Life!), 29 December, L8 Eee, so commercial some might say.  2002 Tee Hun Ching (quoting Sharon Ho) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 3 February, P6 Often, we would come across young children who are not exposed to dogs saying things like, ‘Eeee, dog!’  2003 Clara Chow The Straits Times (Life!), 9 December, L4 Eeyer, so juvenile.  2006 Liu Minli The Sunday Times, 30 July, 36 Once, when I praised a boy for his gentlemanly behaviour, his friends went “Eeee!”. They considered being called a gentleman a weakness. It meant the boy was “soft”. Something must be done to change the mindset of these youngsters.  2009 Phin Wong Today, 20 February, 34 I remember a time when the mere mention of the word “sex” would cause everyone in the room to giggle gleefully, hands over their mouths, faces flushed with coy embarrassment. “Eee-er,” they’d say, stifling a terrible titter, “You very dirty one!” .. “Eee! You very cheekopek!”  2011 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 26 June, 14 Apart from the ‘ee-yur’ factor, I’m not sure why Anthony Weiner got as much flak as he did.

ee fu noodles /ee foo, eː fuː/ n. [Mand. 伊府 Yīfǔ official residence of Yi: a Chi. surname (see notes below) + fǔ official residence, mansion + Eng. noodles, a transl. of Mand. miàn noodles (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  A type of Chinese noodles, dull yellow in colour, which are coiled into cakes, dried and partially cooked by deep-frying, causing them to retain a firm texture when remoistened and stir-fried. Ee fu noodles are often served at wedding banquets.
¶ It is said that ee fu noodles were created in China during the reign of the Qiánlóng Emperor [Mand.
乾隆: qián (arch.) male + lóng grand; prosperous, thriving; intense, deep] (18 October 1735 – 9 February 1796) of the Qing Dynasty [Mand. 清朝 Qīng Cháo: qīng unmixed, clear + cháo dynasty] (1644–1911) and named after the poet, calligrapher, minor painter and seal carver 伊秉绶 Yī Bǐngshòu (1754–1815) from 太宁 Tàiníng in 惠州 Huìzhōu, 广东 Guǎngdōng (Canton) Province, China. The story is told that Yi often had gatherings of the literati and other guests at his home to recite and compose poems. As his cook was very busy during these events, Yi suggested that he should make noodles out of flour, eggs and water, coil them into cakes, air-dry the noodles, and fry them before storing them. Thus, when Yi’s guests came, it would only be necessary to put the cakes of noodles into boiling water and add other ingredients to them. On one occasion, he served these noodles to fellow poet and calligrapher 宋湘 Sòng Xiāng, who found them delicious and asked him what they were called. Yi replied that these noodles had been created in his own household and had no name. Song then proposed that they be called ‘ee fu noodles’. See the Makan Time website (2004, accessed 11 April 2006) and the article “最滋味:伊面”,《广州日报》(“Most Flavoursome: Ee Noodles”, Guangzhou Daily Newspaper) (8 October 2005, accessed 7 September 2006).
     It is possible that ee fu noodles are served at wedding banquets because the long noodles signify the length of the marriage and their stickiness the closeness of the husband and wife.
     Known in Cant. as Ee Meen.
2001 Cat Ong (quoting Ase Wang) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 11 February, P8 I love to eat Swedish meatballs with ee fu noodles.  2006 Foong Woei Wan The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 8 October. The ee fu noodles with seafood and fried rice I ordered were just as outstanding.  2006 Wong Ah Yoke The Sunday Times (LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive), 29 October. Even better was the braised ee-fu noodles with roasted pork, preserved sausage and vegetable ($20). It was an unusual combination of ingredients, which were not at all healthy. But they tasted so good. .. [T]he seafood eefu noodles ($22) were well-stewed, with the noodles soaking in a well-flavoured stock.

ee meen /ee meen, eː mɪn/ n. [Cant. í a surname + mín wheat-flour; flour vermicelli (Eitel); Mand. a Chi. surname (see Ee Fu Noodles) + miàn noodles (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)]  Ee Fu Noodles.

ee-yer var. of Ee.

eff you int. [Eng. < initial letter of f(uck; compare eff v. used as an expletive on its own account as a milder alternative to fuck < var. of ef, the name of the letter F] vulg.  A euphemism for fuck you.
[1950 Ernest Hemingway Across the River and into the Trees, ch. 9, 78 ‘Eff Florence,’ the Colonel said.  1958 Kingsley Amis I Like It Here, ch. 13, 164 You young people eff off.]  2005 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 14 August. .. T.B. turned to me and said: ‘Director, I think I like it better if you made him say ‘Eff you’ or something.’ ‘Where did you learn such words?’ I asked him, rather taken aback. ‘Aiyah, I hear all the time!’ he snorted, before suggesting an even more forceful Hokkien substitute. .. [T]here was T.B. in his usual perch, slumped over the table fast asleep, an action figure in each hand. Was he directing in his dreams? I wondered. Was he having one action figure flail his arms at the other, while yelling, ‘Eff you!’ or something even more colourful?

egg prata n. [Eng. egg + Prata]  A Prata cooked with egg.
2006 Andrea Ong
The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 8 January, L34 Other than traditional plain ($1) and egg prata ($1.50), customers can also order less common varieties like prata with cheese and mushroom or sausage (between $1.50 and $3).

eh /ay, / int. [< Mand. , èi]  An exclamation used at the beginnings of sentences to attract the attention of the person addressed.
2004 ‘Mr Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun) Weekend Today, 2425 April, 20 Eh, Lee! Long time no see! You got to go back for reservist or not?  2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 26 February. My e-mail load was seriously grinding me down. It’s not about getting more efficient spam management software. If anything, my spam filter is too efficient. I’ve been getting way too many ‘Eh, how come you never reply my last e-mail, ha?’ messages for my comfort.  2013 Melissa Kong (quoting Tosh Zhang) Lifestyle, April, 62 The authorities are still trying to tell us, “Eh, this one cannot watch ah, later influence you all negatively then reflect badly on our society.”

elephant n. [Eng.] mil. slang.  Also (erron.) elephant’s egg.  A speck of dirt in the barrel of a rifle.
1978 Leong Choon Cheong Youth in the Army 307 elephants. ‘Elephants’ are usually found in the barrels of rifles. This is an emphatic reference to that unforgivable speck of dust located in the supposedly spotless rifle barrel. A variant — of the ignoramus — is ‘elephant’s egg’.  1985 Michael Chiang Army Daze 41 Elephants. The specks of dirt found in the barrel of a soldier’s rifle during inspection. Eg, .. ‘So what are these bloody elephants doing inside your rifle!?’

Encik var. of Inche.
2008 The New Adventures of Army WOSpecs 26 A review in addressing Warrant Officers was done in January 2006. All Sergeant Major appointment holders would be addressed as “Sergeant Major” and the general population of Warrant Officers would be addressed as “Encik” for the men and “Cik” for the women.

exercise n. [Eng.] mil.  A military training session, usu. involving movements of troops and equipment.

eye power n. [Eng.]  Use eye power: stand by and watch instead of participating or helping out.
2005 Renee Tan The Sunday Times, 27 February, 38 Eye power. What is means: To describe someone who is looking on without physically helping out with a task. How to use: “Help me move this bed! You stand there using eye power ah?”  2005 Hong Xinyi The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 19 June. Eye power. Army use: Used by instructors to a soldier who is watching idly while his platoon mates do the real work. Civilian use: Used by sarcastic wives to couch potato husbands who never help with the housework. Example: You are watching Baywatch while I do the dishes? Wah, you have a lot of eye power hor.

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