©
Jack Tsen-Ta Lee |
O$P$ abbrev. of Owe Money, Pay Money.
obiang /o-biahng,
ɒˈbɪɑŋ/
a. [origin
uncertain, poss. Hk. or < Mal.
biang-biut
zig-zag, sticking out this way and that (Wilkinson)] Out of fashion; in a bad or dubious style or taste, esp.
ostentatiously so. See also
Off-Beat Cha-Cha.
1991
Valerie Tan
The Straits
Times (Section 3),
9 August, 19
Obiang, the word that is used to describe people or
things that are desperately out of fashion.
2002
Tan Shzr Ee
The Straits
Times (Life!),
3 June, L6 Tan Dun’s sparkling Concerto For Water Percussion &
Orchestra bowls the crowd over; but The Gate is postmodern obiang
[subtitle] .. If
you want to be rude about it, this was
obiang. 2006
Kristina Tom
The
Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 1 January, L7 [O]ne of the most coveted types
of calendars in Singapore dates back to the early 1900s – those tear-off ones
traditional Chinese companies used to give away. As you probably know, there are
two main versions of this obiang (Hokkien for uncool) calendar: one with
monthly tear-off sheets and one with daily ones. .. Obiang or otherwise,
if you want these tried-and-true originals, call your gas supplier or swing by
Chinese-owned shops and companies.. 2006
Michelle Tay (quoting
Janice Chng)
The Straits
Times (Urban) (from
Straits Times Interactive), 19 October. Public relations consultant Janice
Chng refuses to wear yellow gold because she deems it ‘obiang’ (Hokkien for garish or outdated). She reckons
that only people of her mother’s generation would wear it.
oei /ooay, way,
uːeɪ, weɪ/
int.
[< Mand. 喂
wèi]
Used to attract the attention of the person addressed: hello, hey.
2004
‘Mr
Brown’ (Lee Kin Mun)
Weekend Today,
24-25 April, 20 My observation is that once you have children, you lose your
name. Your name becomes ‘Make the Milk’, ‘Wipe Her Mouth’, and ‘Why Aren’t You
Watching Him Look He is Eating Your Handphone’. Sometimes, it is ‘Oei’.
off
v.
[Eng.]
Of lights, electrical appliances,
etc.:
switch off, turn off.
¶ Opp. of
On v.
2005
Philip Lee
The New
Paper (from
The Electric New Paper), 10 December. .. Singaporeans always say things
such as: ‘Have you ‘on’ the air-con?’
or ‘Remember to
‘off’
the fan when you leave.’ 2006
The
Sunday Times,
30 July, 35 We hear it so often: “Please off your mobile
phone/lights/radio/etc.” And we know exactly what to do, even though there is no
verb, or “action
word”,
in the sentence! We know that the missing verb is
“switch”:
“Please switch off
your mobile phone.” 2012
Linda Collins
The
Sunday Times,
11 March, 41 I switched off the light. But many Singaporeans would say I “offed”
the light. .. Nowadays, I even use it myself when appropriate, as in: “Can off
the light?”
off n. &
a.
[Eng.] A n. In full, off in lieu: unrecorded leave
granted for work done outside ordinary working hours, given in lieu of overtime
pay. B a. Off duty, not required to work on a particular
day.
¶ Opp. of
On
a.
B 2003
Khoo How Sun
Today,
4 December, 44 I suspect it is a peculiarly Singaporean usage in which people
claim they are not at work because it is their ‘off day’. .. A check with a good
dictionary will show that when one has an off day, one does not seem to do
things as well as one usually does. .. Many Singaporeans mean ‘day off’ when they
say ‘off day’. In many organisations, you get a day off
–
invariably unrecorded leave –
in lieu of whatever.
2012 Linda Collins
The
Sunday Times,
11 March, 41 [T]his was my day off, or, as it is called her, my off-day. The
word “off-day” can also mean having a bad day, so you could say I was having an
off-day on my off-day.
off-beat var. of Off-Beat Cha-Cha.
†off-beat
cha-cha a.
[< Eng. cha-cha a type of ballroom dance to Latin-American rhythm] Also
ellipt.
off-beat
and abbrev. to
OB.
Unfashionable. See also
Obiang.
1991
Valerie Tan
The Straits
Times (Section 3),
9 August, 19
Obiang replaced the 1960s
off-beat cha-cha,
which was shortened to
off-beat
in the 70s, and then simply
o.b.
in the 80s.
old bird
n.
[Eng. transl. of Hk.
lau jiao]
Lau Jiao.
2003
Peh Shing Huei (quoting
Gwyn Tan)
The Sunday Times,
12 October, 32 The England team need an old bird like [Alan] Shearer to lead.
2005 Chua Hian Hou (quoting
‘Hazie’)
The Straits Times
(Digital Life), 22 March, 19 At first just joined the forum genna hantam
too cos use sms language then the ‘old birds’ can’t stand it so I also got some
pretty harsh words lah.
on
v.
[Eng.] Of lights, electrical appliances,
etc.:
turn on, switch on.
¶ Opp. of
Off v.
2005 Philip Lee
The New
Paper (from
The Electric New Paper), 10 December. .. Singaporeans always say things
such as: ‘Have you
‘on’ the air-con?’
or ‘Remember to
‘off’
the fan when you leave.’
2012 Linda Collins
The
Sunday Times,
11 March, 41 I headed home to “on” the air-conditioner.
on
a.
[Eng.]
1
On the Ball.
2 On duty or required to work,
esp.
on a day when others are
Off;
spec.
(mil.
slang) ordered
to be on guard duty or to take on extra work as a punishment. 3
Homosexual, gay.
1 1985
Michael Chiang
Army Daze
46 On. To be alert and conscientious. Kia su soldiers are usually on.
2001
Michelle Ho
(quoting
Derrick Ng)
The Sunday Times
(Sunday Plus),
14 January, P7 We are very
on one. Last time we can come to
Canto every day.
2
1978
Leong Choon Cheong
Youth in the Army
315 you are on. Not to be confused with ‘on’ or ‘on the ball’, ‘You are on’ is a
pronouncement of extra duty as punishment.
on
charge a. [Eng.] Of a soldier: having been
charged with a
specified military offence;
being subject to formal disciplinary
action. Compare
Put (One) On Charge.
1985
Michael Chiang
Army Daze
47 On charge. To be up for punishment.
on the ball
v. phr. [Eng.] Alert, hardworking, enthusiastic. Freq.
shortened to
On.
1978
Leong Choon Cheong (quoting
Larry Tan)
Youth in the Army
172 Previously.. we were on the ball. Now we don’t even bother to book soldiers
guilty of minor offences. 310 on, on the ball. A soldier who is on or on the
ball is a good one. He is always alert and performs his duties well.
1985
Michael Chiang
Army Daze
47 On the ball. To be on; one who never misses a move.
1998
The Straits Times,
28 July, 34 Three [football] clubs not on the ball enough.
on the wrong ball v. phr. [Eng.]
Hardworking and enthusiastic but tending to do the wrong thing.
1985
Michael Chiang
Army Daze
47 On the wrong ball. To make the right moves at the wrong time.
onde onde var. of Ondeh Ondeh.
ondeh ondeh
/on-day, ˈɒndeɪ/
n. [Mal. < Tam.
உண்டை
uṇṭai
ball, globe, sphere; anything round or globular, commonly rather small; food in
the shape of a ball; mouthful (Tam.
Lex.); compare Jav.
onḍé-onḍé
a sesame-seed cake with a palm-sugar centre (Horne);
Malayalam
ഉണട
uṇṭa
a globular sweetmeat made of rice flour mixed with sugar; round, globular; short
in stature but stout; anything spherical, a ball, globe; an orb (Mlm.
Lex.); Tulu
ಉಂದೆ
uṇḍe
a ball-shaped confection, usu. made of powdered grain and jaggery or sugar; a
sweetmeat; any round or globular object, a lump; a morsel; round, globular; Tulu
ಉರುಂದೆ
uruṇḍe,
ಉರುಂದೆಲ್
uruṇḍelụ
round object; ball-like mass (Tulu
Lex.); see also Kannada
ಉಣಡೆ
uṇḍě
a round mass or ball of anything (e.g., of raw sugar, tamarind, clay,
cowdung, etc.) (Kittel);
Kota
ഉണഡ്
uṇḍ
roundness (Mlm. Lex.);
ഉണഡയ്
uṇḍy
round lump of food (Burrow
& Emeneau); Telugu
ఉండ
uṇḍa
a lump,
ball, pellet; a pill or bolus; round (Brown);
Telugu
ఉంట
unṭa
a round earthern ball, a pellet (Percival,
Tel. Dict.); Toda
ഉണയ്
uṇỵ
ball, round (Mlm. Lex.)] Also onde onde.
A small sweetened dumpling of sweet
potato dough filled with a
Gula Melaka syrup and rolled in shredded coconut.
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson
A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 819 Onde-onde: ball-shaped
cake; dumpling. Usually a small ball of glutinous-rice-flour (těpong pulut)
with palm-sugar inside, the ball being rolled in grated coconut. Described in a
riddle: see Gem. Ht. [Kitab
Gemala Hikmat] 34. Also (Min. [Minangkabau]) ondeh-ondeh, (Batav.
[Batavia]) onde and (Ked. [Kedah]) one-one; (Bali) unde.]
2003
Teo Pau Lin
The Sunday Times,
5 October, L41 Onde onde.. The steamed mounds of sweet potato dough with gula
melaka filling are so popular, they are snapped up the minute they are made.
2008
The
Straits Times (Home),
11 October, B8 [T]he popular Nonya confection ondeh ondeh – a glutinous
rice ball filled with melted palm sugar and dusted with freshly grated coconut
..
one
int.
[Eng.; poss. <
one “[f]ollowing a determiner or
adjective.., without contextual reference: a person having the characteristics
indicated” (OED),
eg,
‘He’s a careless one.’] Used at the end of a sentence to indicate that a
person, thing, etc., has the characteristics identified, or simply for
emphasis.
2000
Patricia Mok
The Straits
Times (Life!),
14 February, 5 ‘My boyfriends very possessive one. They don’t allow me to wear
clothes I want, do things I want,’ she laments.
2000
Kelvin Tong
The
Straits Times (Life! This Weekend),
28 December, 8 Bluff people one.
2001
Susan Long
(quoting
Khoo Swee Chiow)
The Straits
Times, 23
February, H12 Try lah, won’t go wrong one lah. 2010
May Seah
Today,
19 July, T4 Girl, don’t marry a musician. Got no money one.
one
kind
a.
[prob. < Eng.
one-of-a-kind]
often derog.
One-of-a-kind, unique; spec. of persons: difficult, troublesome,
unaccommodating. Compare
Like That.
1978
Leong Choon Cheong
Youth in the Army
167 His form master who taught metalwork knew about Larry’s lapses and his group
of drug-taking classmates (who were ‘of one kind, a havoc group’).
1982 ‘Paik-Choo’ (Toh Paik Choo)
Eh,
Goondu! 2 One Kind Just that. As in “Her dancing also one kind”
or “Swear, the house one kind.” The ex-word for this is the now staid “unique,”
except that with “one kind” you have also expressed your incredulity (of the
dance, the house).
1991
Wong Kim Hoh
The Straits Times,
5 May, at 13 You don’t be so one kind one, can or not?
one-, two-,
etc.,
stripe general
n. phr.
[Eng.] mil. slang
A lance-corporal, corporal,
etc., who behaves as though he is of a higher rank.
1978
Leong Choon Cheong
Youth in the Army
310 one-stripe general. A one-stripe general is a LCP [lance-corporal] who is acting above his
rank. Similarly, a two-stripe general is a CPL [corporal] who does likewise, and a
three-stripe general a SGT [sergeant].
opeh /oh-pay,
ˈopeɪ/
n. [Mal. (?)] The areca (nut) palm or betel-nut palm (Areca catechu),
the leaves of which are traditionally used as food wrappings.
2006 Teo Pau Lin
The Sunday Times (LifeStyle),
12 February. Opeh leaf, the beige,
papery sheet that was used to wrap food packets in the 1940s to 1970s, has
become a common sight in hawker centres islandwide. It had almost disappeared
from Singapore’s foodscape in the past 30 years when hawkers switched to using
cheaper and more convenient plastic-lined paper packaging. You could find it
only in a few zi char stalls (hawkers serving restaurant-style food) that
continued to use the leaf for takeaways because its subtle, woody fragrance
seeps into the food and enhances its taste. But now, an increasing number of
hawkers have turned to it again to wrap takeaways of Hokkien mee, char kway teow
and oyster omelette. Many even use it to line the plates of dine-in orders. ..
Opeh leaf comes from the betel nut palm (Areca catechu), a tree that grows in
hot and humid tropical regions in the world, says Dr Chin See Chung, director of
the Botanic Gardens. Tough and durable, it is the inner sheath of its bark,
which falls off the tree about once a month. It comes in various sizes depending
on the size of the tree. The fallen bark is collected, then its inner sheath is
removed, dried and sold. .. Mr Sam Pang, 40, the co-owner of Lao Fu Zi, says the
leaf was commonly used to pack chee cheong fun and Hokkien mee in the post-war
decades. These dishes, which come with gravy, are most suitable to be wrapped in
opeh leaves because the wetness absorbs their fragrance well, he says. Other
recommended dishes include fried hor fun, Chinese-style pork chop and even
chilli crab. In Malaysia, opeh leaf is also commonly used to wrap sweet Malay
kuih. Mr Pang says that Singapore re-discovered it in the late 1990s, thanks to
the slew of local TV programmes that recommended the best hawker finds in town.
2011 Eunice Quek & Lua Jia Min
The Sunday Times (LifeStyle),
17 April, 22 Fatty Weng in Guillemard Road.. still uses opeh (betel nut palm)
leaves to pack food for takeaway..
or jian
/o jee’en, ɒ dʒiːɛn/
n. [Hk.
蚝 or oyster +
煎 jian fry in shallow oil; Mand. háojiān]
Orluak.
2008 Wong Ah Yoke
The Sunday Times (LifeStyle),
12 October, 32 [P]an-fried fresh oyster with scrambled egg and greens ($14),
which most Singaporeans would recognise as or chien. Unlike the version found in
Taiwanese street stalls, this one here did not contain starch. It was just egg
and oysters and a generous sprinkling of plump spring onion. But what plump
oysters, what fragrant fried eggs. 2013
Chris Tan
The Sunday Times (SundayLife!),
8 December, 37 Oh Chien ($8) or Penang-style oyster omelette..
orang china bukan china
/o-rahng chee-nə
boo-kahn chee-nə, ˈɒrɑŋ
ˈtʃiːnə
ˈbʊkɑn ˈtʃiːnə/
n. [Mal.,
a Chinese who is not Chinese:
orang a human being; a man or woman; people generally (esp.
in the sense of other people),
china
Chinese; bukan negation, non-existence, no, not (Wilkinson);
no, not (implying the alternative) (Winstedt)] Often jocularly
abbrev. to OCBC
[also an abbrev. for the
O(versea-C(hinese B(anking
C(orporation,
one of the major local banks in Singapore].
1
A person of mixed descent, one of whose parents is Chinese.
2 A
Banana.
1 2001
The Straits Times,
6 January, H13 One person said he was proud to call himself an OCBC, or
orang china bukan china. His
father is Indian and mother, Chinese.
2003
Magdalene Phang
Streats,
3 February 35 There’s a rather clever acronym to describe people like me
– OCBC,
‘orang China, bukan China’, Malay for ‘Chinese people who aren’t Chinese’. And
that’s mainly because, as a Peranakan Chinese, I don’t, as a matter of course,
speak a Chinese dialect, save for smatterings of Hokkien, enough to order my
favourite hawker food.
or-bi-good
/o bee good, ɒ biː gʊd̚/
int.
[origin uncertain; perh. < Eng. very good]
nursery Used
when a person has received what he or she deserves, or his or her come-uppance.
2004
Colin Goh
The Sunday Times (LifeStyle),
17 October, L14 One is, of course, tempted to crook one’s arm at the elbow and
make a flapping action while saying “or-bi-good”
in satisfaction..
ORD /oh ahr dee, aʊ ɑːr diː/ n. & v. [abbrev. for o(perationally r(eady d(ate] A n. mil. Date on which national servicemen complete their two (or formerly two-and-a-half) years of full-time national service. Known prior to 1 January 1994 as ROD. B v. 1 Complete serving full-time national service. 2 Complete any (unpleasant) course of activity.
[1994 Dr Lee Boon Yang (Minister for Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 31 October, vol. 63, col. 638 The [Enlistment (Amendment)] Bill seeks to change the terms “reservist” and “reserve service” in the Enlistment Act, the Singapore Armed Forces Act, the Civil Defence Act and the Income Tax Act. Our “operationally ready national servicemen” formerly known as “reservists” prior to 1st January 1994 form an integral part of the Singapore Armed Forces. They make up 80% of the SAF troops’ strength. They are our frontline troops to be mobilised immediately in the event of an external threat. They will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with the full-time national servicemen and regulars in the defence of Singapore. The terms “operationally ready national serviceman” and “operationally ready national service” more accurately describe the contributions made by these valiant young Singaporeans. On 25th August 1994, the Deputy Prime Minister had already moved the Second Reading, and this House had agreed to the amendment to Article 128(2b)(ii), of the Constitution to change the terms “reservists” and “reserve service” to “operationally ready national servicemen” and “operationally ready national service” respectively. These terms in the Enlistment Act and the SAF Act will have to be similarly amended. 2001 Enlistment Act (Chapter 93, 2001 Rev. Ed.), s. 14(1)(a) Operationally ready national service liability. .. Every person who is liable for operationally ready national service shall report for service, in accordance with this Act, whenever he is required to do so by the proper authority on the date and at the time appointed by the proper authority for him to report for operationally ready national service..]
A 1999 Matthias Yao Chih (Minister of State, Ministry of Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 10 March, vol. 70, cols. 378–379 .. MINDEF has a financial assistance scheme to help needy full-time National Servicemen. Under the scheme, the needy full-time National Servicemen may be given a grant of up to $200 per month. If this sum is insufficient, he can apply for further assistance in the form of an interest-free loan through his unit’s manpower officer. The loan is repayable by instalments, starting three months after his operationally ready date (ORD). 2004 Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean (Minister for Defence) Parliamentary Debates: Official Report, 15 June, vol. 78, col. 55 Full-time National Servicemen who are currently serving their 2½ years of service will get up to a two-month cut in service duration. I said “up to a two-month cut” because the earliest date that the ORD for these in-service National Servicemen can be brought forward to will be 30th June 2004, to allow time for the units to do their administrative out-processing arrangements. B 2 2005 Hong Xinyi The Sunday Times (from Straits Times Interactive), 19 June. ORD-ohhhh. Army use: The end to national service is known as ORD (short for Operationally Ready Date). ORD-ohhhh is what soldiers shout out upon passing out of NS. Civilian use: Commonly howled when a guy graduates from university or switches jobs. Example: I survived four years of boring tutorials! ORD-ohhhh!
orgy n. [Eng.] 1 A big mess. 2 A large, noisy group of people. Also mass orgy.
orluak
/o-luahk, ɒˈlʊɑk/
n.
[Hk. 蚝 or
oyster
+卵 luak
egg
(?); Mand. háoluǎn] Also or
luak. A
Chinese omelette made with eggs and oysters. Also known as or jian.
2001
Angela Ee
The Sunday Times
(Sunday Plus),
25 February, P11 Miles away from home, I dream of
orluak
– eggs crisped around the edges by lard, softened by gooey flour and smooth
blobs of oysters.
2004
Judi Low
Streats,
23 April, 52 [T]hat popular oyster omelette or luak. 2006
Teo Pau Lin (quoting
Soh Gim Teik)
The Sunday Times
(from Straits Times Interactive),
12 March. I always order the oh luak (oyster omelette). I don’t know what the
name of the stall is, but it’s cooked by this old woman. She does it nice and
soft, not too crispy, which is how I like it.
orni /o-nee,
ɒˈniː/
n. [Teo.
芋
ou7 the yam,
a perennial herbaceous plant with leaves somewhat in the shape of a halberd (a
weapon consisting of a long handle ending in a combined spearhead and battleaxe)
and an edible underground stem +
泥
ni5
somthing resembling mud (Chaozhou
Dict.); Mand.
yù yam +
ní
mud, mire; mashed vegetable or fruit (Chi.–Eng.
Dict.)]
Also orh nee.
A Teochew hot dessert made of yam, pumpkin,
etc.,
ground into a paste, mixed with oil and sweetened.
2003
Sam Chua
Weekend Today,
10–11
January, 34 For dessert, order the smooth and creamy
orni (yam paste) made with top quality yam, pumpkin,
gingko nuts and water chestnuts.. 2006
The Straits Times
(National Day Supplement), 9 August, 17 TOP 10 SINGAPORE DESSERTS.. 3 Orh
nee (Teochew yam paste) 2007
Teo Pau Lin (quoting Sim Ee Waun)
The
Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 6 August, L28 What is your guilty pleasure
food? / Teochew oh nee (yam paste dessert).. 2008
Sylvia Tan
The Straits Times
(Mind Your Body), 11 September, 22 If you can mash potatoes, you can make
orh nee, that well-loved Teochew dessert with a long (and, to me, undeserved)
reputation for being unhealthy. Basically, a yam mash sweetened with syrup and
then made more interesting with the addition of pumpkin and gingko nuts, it is
appealing in that it is more than the sum of these ingredients. People love it
for its extreme sweetness and its richness, which comes from lard. .. [O]ld
recipes call for steaming of the tuber [i.e., yam] .. [and] for shallot
oil to be added to the mix. This is an old-fashioned requirement that is used as
well in recipes for glutinous rice dumpling or mua chee. It adds flavour, though
most of us would find it hard to accept the matching of a savoury onion oil with
a sweet.
OT n. & v. /oh-tee, əʊˈtiː/ [abbrev. of Eng. (o)ver(t)ime] A n. Work done beyond normal working hours, overtime work. B v. Work beyond normal working hours, work overtime.
otah-otah, otah var. of Otak-Otak.
otak-otak
/oh-tahk, əʊˈtɑk/
n.
[Mal., origin unkn.] Also ellipt.
otak;
otah-otah,
otah.
A small, flat strip of meat paste (usu. fish) wrapped in a banana-leaf strip and
roasted.
[1955 R.J. Wilkinson
A Malay–English Dictionary, vol. 2, 822 Otak-otak: a special
dish, minced fish or stuffed duck served up whole or held together by a wrapper
of nipah-leaf.
1963 Richard Winstedt
An Unabridged Malay–English Dictionary 250 o.-o. [otak-otak] fish
or prawns baked in palm-leaf packets and spiced with candlenut, chillies,
coriander, citronella bulbs, coconut, onion, tamarind juice, turmeric, pepper
and fish-paste (bělachan).]
2000
Wong Ah
Yoke
The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus),
9 January, 8 You do find
otah otah and even
roll-it-yourself popiah..
And how about the otah
itself? At $8 a serving.. it was not cheap.
2000
Sylvia Lim
The Sunday Times
(Sunday Plus),
13 February, 7 The coconut rice would be eaten.. with
kangkong sambal, otak-otak,
ikan bilis sambal
and cucumber.
2001
David Kraal
The Straits
Times (Life!),
20 February, L6
Otak-otak, char siew, babi pangang
and roast duck were bought from secret stalls that produce only the best.
2006 Thng Lay Teen
The Sunday Times
(LifeStyle) (from Straits Times Interactive),
17 September. On some Saturday mornings, I head for a little vegetable garden in
Bishan Park to buy greens as well as banana leaves to make otak.
otang /oh-tahng,
ˈotɑŋ/
v. [< Mal. utang arch., hutang debt, money due, obligation (Wilkinson,
Winstedt);
or < Jav. otang, var. of utang a debt; a loan, credit; in
debt; to borrow habitually; to sell something on credit (Horne)]
Owe (a debt, money, a piece of work, etc.).
2006 Colin Goh
The Sunday Times
(from Straits Times Interactive),
12 February. [F]retting over how much you now hutang (Malay for ‘owe’) Messrs
Visa and MasterCard.
outside
food n. [Eng.] Food that has been purchased, not from a
particular restaurant or other eating place that one is patronizing, but from elsewhere.
Eateries in Singapore often frown upon their customers bringing outside food and
beverages on to their premises.
2006 Melissa Sim
The Sunday Times
(from Straits Times Interactive),
24 September. ‘Outside food’: Eateries mostly go easy on kids [title] A customer
who walks into Jack’s Place with ‘outside food’ can expect the staff there to
suggest that the food be transferred on to a plate. The reason: So that other
diners would not notice that the food was not from its outlet. Another
restaurant Blue Ginger said it would seat the customer at a table where his
‘outside food’ would not be noticed. These two restaurants were among 10 which
took a flexibile [sic] view when asked about their rules on diners who
bring food bought elsewhere into their premises. The issue of whether diners can
take ‘outside food and drinks’ into restaurants became a talking point.. after a
restaurant in Upper Thomson Road ejected a customer whose children had taken a
drink into the restaurant. 2009
Leow Si Wan
The Straits
Times (Home), 15 December, B1
Readers responded when Stomp asked them to send pictures of badly worded signs
posted in public places.. The most common error spotted: “No outside food
allowed”. .. Language experts who did not want to be named said that while the
term “outside food” is understood by Singaporeans, it is ambiguous and confuses
native speakers of the language. A suggestion, said one expert, would be: “Only
food sold here is allowed to be eaten on the premises.”
owa peya som /oh-wah pay-yah sohm, əʊˈwɑ peɪˈjɑ sɔm/ n. [Mal. (?)] A children’s game similar to Long Chiam Pas.
owe
money, pay money v. phr. [Eng. transl. of Mand.
欠钱环钱 qiàn qián huán qián: qiàn owe, be
behind with, qián money, huán give back, return; repay (Chi.–Eng.
Dict.); or cognates in other Chi. dialects] Usu. abbrev. to O$P$.
Freq. scrawled by
Ah Longs (loan sharks) on walls,
etc., to threaten their clients into repaying borrowed money with interest.
2006
Elena Chong
The Straits
Times (Home), 9 August, H1 On
Feb 26, his neighbour.. began suffering the usual treatment loan sharks give to
clients who default on loans: He returned home that day and found his unit
number, “O$P$” and a cellphone number scrawled with a black marker outside his
flat. “O$P$” is loan shark shorthand for “Owe money, pay money”.
2006 Faith Teo
The New
Paper, 26 December, 10 [W]hen they don’t pay up, some debtors end up
settling their debts by becoming runners themselves. As runners, it’s not just
to scribble “O$P$” on walls and lock grilles with bicycle chains. They sometimes
even have to hand over their bank account number. The syndicates then use the
account to collect money from other debtors and to bounce money around to avoid
being traced. 2010 Elena
Chong
The Straits
Times (Home), 27 August, C11
A runner for a loan shark who set fire to debtors’ doors and spray-painted
graffiti on the walls of Housing Board staircase landings was handed a
three-year prison term and 15 strokes of the cane yesterday. .. Jeyaraj
spray-painted “O$P$” – short for “Owe money, pay money” – in red on walls and
set alight doors and/or metal gates of flats..
own
time, own target n. phr. [Eng., f. a verbal instruction given
during live-firing practice sessions that soldiers may commence firing at their
targets when ready] mil. slang Describes a situation where
one may do something at one’s own discretion or leisure.
2005
Hong Xinyi
The Sunday Times
(from Straits Times Interactive), 19 June. Own time, own target. Army
use: To perform a task at one’s own leisure or by using one’s discretion.
Civilian use: Ditto. Example: This assignment doesn’t have an urgent deadline,
so own time, own target.
ownself
pron.
[Eng. own + self, or poss. < Eng.
ownself, long
arch.
&
dial.]
In I/my,
you/your, he/his, she/her, they/their ownself:
myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves.
1991
Valerie Tan
The Straits Times
(Section 3), 9 August, 19 your… ownself
– ‘own’ added for emphasis.