©
Jack Tsen-Ta Lee |
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 [口
+ 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: Yī a Chi. surname (see notes below) + fǔ official residence,
mansion + Eng. noodles, a transl. of Mand.
面
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. 伊 í a surname + 面 mín wheat-flour; flour vermicelli (Eitel); Mand. Yī a Chi. surname (see Ee Fu Noodles) + miàn noodles (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Ee Fu Noodles.
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, eɪ/ int.
[< Mand. 欸
ề,
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,
24–25
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.