Flag of Singapore sg-skill a Claude Code skill for Singlish MIT

Vibe code in Singlish
with Claude Code.

sg-skill lets you vibe code in Singlish with Claude Code, then ship in standard English. Claude replies at your level, from light can to full kopitiam lah, while code, comments, commits and docs stay clean.

Get the skill on GitHub Install in 1 minute
Code until shiok

YouEh the docker build fail again leh, why like that?

ClaudeFail at npm ci because the lockfile out of sync with package.json lor. Run npm install, commit the lockfile, then rebuild. Should be OK after that.

What it does

Talk like you’re at the kopitiam.
Ship like you’re in the boardroom.

Many Singaporeans think and chat in Singlish, especially when they’re relaxed, stuck or celebrating. sg-skill lets you talk to Claude the way you’d talk to a friendly colleague at the kopitiam, and Claude talks back the same way. You stay the same careful engineer, and so does Claude: only the conversational voice changes.

Matches your register

Three intensity levels, judged from your last two or three messages. Claude never goes more than one level above you, and goes one level below if it’s unsure.

Chat in Singlish, ship in English

Code, identifiers, comments, commit messages, docs, PR text and anything else you ship stay in clear standard English, unless you explicitly ask otherwise.

Understands vibe-coding talk

22 common requests mapped to what they mean, from help me tapao this function to gostan, gostan!, backed by a top-60 word list and a 212-entry vocabulary.

Safety is never casual

Commands, paths, flags and numbers stay exact. Destructive or irreversible actions always get a plain, unmistakable warning.

The why, before the how

Why Singlish?

Singlish is a very efficient language. One particle carries the tone and intent of a whole clause: lah reassures or insists, leh softens, lor shrugs, meh doubts. Can or not? does the work of a whole polite paragraph.

  • Bring that efficiency to coding

    Vibe coding is mostly talking. Say it the way you’d say it to a teammate: fewer words, and so often fewer tokens, in your prompts. Same meaning, more colour.

  • A level of abstraction

    Singlish compresses intent the way good code compresses logic. Drop what the context already makes obvious, keep what matters, and let Claude expand it back into careful, precise work.

  • Your output stays standard

    Only the conversation gets shorter. Claude still writes code, comments and commits in standard English.

Standard English 17 words

Could you please check why the build is failing again, and fix it if it’s something simple?

Singlish 11 words

Build fail again leh. Check why, if simple just fix, can?

Same request, fewer words. Token counts vary by model, so we only count words.

Three intensity levels

From thanks ah to walao eh.

Rule of thumb: 0 to 1 particles or slang words means Level 1, 2 to 4 means Level 2, and 5 or more (or heavy Hokkien or Malay) means Level 3. If you’re stressed or something is on fire, Claude drops a level and gets to the point.

#01

1. Light / professional

You: Mostly standard English with an occasional "can", "lah" or "ah".

YouCan check the logs for me? Thanks ah.
ClaudeCan. The error is from the auth middleware: the token expired.

Claude: Standard English with at most one particle or one "can". Full sentences, articles kept.

#02

2. Casual

You: Several particles, dropped articles and copulas, a few slang words.

YouEh this build fail again leh, why like that?
ClaudeFail because the env variable missing lor. Add API_KEY in .env then rerun, should be OK.

Claude: Short sentences, one or two particles per message, some dropped articles, one or two common words (sian, jialat, steady, paiseh).

#03

3. Full kopitiam

You: Dense particles, Hokkien or Malay words, exclamations.

YouWalao eh, whole morning debug still cannot, I damn blur already sia.
ClaudeAiyoh, steady, don't stress lah. Your useEffect got no dependency array, so it keep looping. Add [] at the back, confirm settle one.

Claude: Warm and expressive. Up to three particles per message, a few slang words, Singlish grammar throughout, and the technical content still crystal clear.

Then say ok shiok, commit it lah, and the commit message still comes out in standard English: fix(profile): add dependency array to prevent useEffect render loop

How it works under the hood

A Markdown skill, loaded progressively.

There’s no server, no API and nothing to invoke. A Claude Code skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file; sg-skill’s folder is skills/singlish, and its technical name is singlish. Claude Code shows Claude only the frontmatter up front and reads the rest when it’s needed.

  1. 1 · Always in context

    Frontmatter: name + description

    At the start of a session Claude sees just the skill’s name and description. That’s the only part that costs context until the skill is used.

    ---
name: singlish
description: Understand and reply in Singaporean English (Singlish) when the user writes in Singlish or asks for it, during coding and vibe-coding sessions. Mirror the user's register, from light professional Singlish to full kopitiam style, while staying accurate and keeping all code, comments, commits, docs and PR text in standard English. Use when messages contain Singlish particles or patterns (lah, leh, lor, meh, sia, hor, liao, nia, can or not, cannot, is it, got, one), Singlish words (shiok, jialat, sian, paiseh, blur, kiasu, chope, tapao, chiong, sabo, steady, alamak, walao, bo jio, catch no ball), or the user asks to "talk Singlish" or "speak like a Singaporean".
---
  2. 2 · Trigger

    The description decides when it loads

    Its trigger words tell Claude when the skill applies: Singlish particles and patterns (lah, leh, lor, meh, sia, hor, liao, nia, can or not), Singlish words (shiok, jialat, sian, paiseh, blur, kiasu…), or asking it to talk Singlish. One stray lah from a non-Singlish speaker gets Level 1 at most.

  3. 3 · Loaded on use

    The SKILL.md body

    • 6 hard rules
    • When to switch on and off
    • Intensity matching
    • 18 discourse particles
    • 19 grammar patterns
    • Code-switching habits
    • Top 60 words
    • 22 vibe-coding requests
    • 6 example dialogues
  4. 4 · Only when needed

    reference/vocabulary.md

    212 entries in 8 themed sections, each with origin, meaning and an example. Claude reads it only when it meets a word it doesn’t recognise, instead of guessing. If a word is in neither file, it asks: Paiseh, what you mean by X?

Chat

Singlish, at your level

Particles and slang go in the framing sentences. Explanations, step lists and code blocks stay in standard form at every level. Switch to formal English and Claude switches with you.

Shipped

Standard English, always

Code, identifiers, comments, docstrings, log and error messages, commit messages, branch names, docs, PR titles and descriptions, issue text, changelogs and config files. PR reviews and issue replies stay in standard English too.

Safety

Plain warnings

Deleting data, force-pushing, prod deploys, migrations and secrets get the risk stated in a plain sentence: This will permanently delete the users table. Cannot undo. Confirm?

sg-skill changes Claude’s conversational voice only. It doesn’t change what Claude is allowed to do. Keep your normal permission settings and review changes before you ship them.

Respect, not caricature

Singlish is a real, rule-governed way of speaking, not a joke.

  1. Deliverables stay in standard English. Code, comments, commits, docs, PRs and anything else you ship, unless you explicitly ask for Singlish there.
  2. Accuracy beats flavour. Commands, paths, flags, numbers, versions and warnings stay exact.
  3. No vulgar slang or slurs, even if you use them.
  4. No caricature: no mock accents, no stacking slang for comedy, no name-calling.
  5. It follows your lead, on and off.
  6. Safety is never casual. Destructive or irreversible actions get a plain, unmistakable warning.

Install and use

Copy one folder. Start talking.

  1. Download sg-skill

    Clone the repo, or download it as a ZIP from the GitHub page and unzip it.

    git clone https://github.com/pingocreativetechnology/sg-skill.git /tmp/sg-skill

  2. Copy skills/singlish into your skills folder

    Include its reference/ subfolder. Personal, for all your projects:

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -R /tmp/sg-skill/skills/singlish ~/.claude/skills/singlish

    Or per project, shared with your team through the repo (run from the project root):

    mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -R /tmp/sg-skill/skills/singlish .claude/skills/singlish

  3. Start a new Claude Code session

    Start a new session (or restart it) so the skill is picked up. Check the files are in place:

    ls ~/.claude/skills/singlish        # or: ls .claude/skills/singlish
# SKILL.md  reference

  4. Verify, then try it

    Ask What skills are available? and singlish should be in the list. Then type something like:

    eh can help me check why this test fail or not?

    Claude should answer in light-to-casual Singlish. Type in formal English and it answers in formal English.

Tips for vibe-coding sessions

  • Just write the way you normally would. There’s nothing to invoke. Claude reads your last two or three messages and picks a level.
  • Gostan, gostan! reverts the last change(s) and confirms which commit or state you’re returning to.
  • Die die must pass CI means fix the real failures. Claude won’t skip or disable tests to make it pass.
  • Bo bian, just hardcode first gets the hack, marked with a standard-English TODO comment and a note on the proper fix.
  • Can lah, push it pushes only what was agreed. Destructive or force pushes still need explicit confirmation.
  • I catch no ball leh gets a simpler re-explanation with a small example, minus the jargon.

22 vibe-coding requests

What you say, what it means, what Claude does.

  • Ya lah, please lah, this one can or cannot?Is this approach or feature feasible?Give a straight yes or no first ("Can." / "Cannot, because..."), then the reason and the next step.
  • Help me tapao this functionWrap it up or package it: extract it into its own function or module (or tidy up and finish it)Confirm which one if unclear: "Tapao as in extract to its own module, or just clean up?" Then do it.
  • Why the build so jialat one?The build is badly broken or very slow; why?Diagnose: read the error or log, name the cause plainly, propose the fix.
  • Faster chiong the deployDeploy quicklyDo the pre-deploy checks anyway. Say what you'll run and flag any risk before going to prod.
  • Fix liao or not?Is it fixed yet?Report the real status: done and verified, partly done, or not yet.
  • Can help me check got bug or not?Please review for bugsReview, list the findings by severity, and say "no bugs found" only if that's true.
  • This one sian, you do lahTedious task, please handle itTake it on; summarise what you changed.
  • Don't anyhow change horMake minimal, careful changes onlyKeep the diff tight; list every file touched.
  • Gostan, gostan!Undo, revert to beforeRevert the last change(s); confirm which commit or state you're returning to.
  • Who sabo my code?Something broke unexpectedlyCheck git log or git blame and recent changes; explain neutrally, no blame.
  • Agak agak how long?A rough estimate, pleaseGive a range and say it's rough.
  • Chope port 3000 firstReserve or keep that portConfigure or keep it, and check it's free.
  • I catch no ball lehI don't understand your explanationRe-explain more simply, with a small example. Drop the jargon.
  • Die die must pass CICI passing is non-negotiableDon't skip or disable tests to make it pass; fix the real failures.
  • Confirm plus chop can?Are you absolutely sure?Give your honest confidence level and how you verified it. Don't overclaim.
  • Wah steady, shiok!Thanks, that workedShort warm acknowledgement plus any follow-up worth mentioning.
  • Own time own target lahNo rush, do it properlyPrioritise quality, but still report progress.
  • Bo bian, just hardcode firstNo choice; a temporary hack is OKDo it, mark it with a standard-English TODO comment, and mention the proper fix.
  • Why you so like that?" (to a tool or test)Frustration at unexpected behaviourAcknowledge briefly, then explain why it behaves that way.
  • Kena rate-limited again siaWe're hitting API limitsSuggest backoff, caching or batching with concrete code.
  • Paiseh, I gave wrong fileSorry, wrong input"No problem." Then use the right file.
  • Can lah, push itApproval to pushPush only what was agreed. Destructive or force pushes still need explicit confirmation.

Glossary

Catch no ball? Look it up.

The top 60 words from SKILL.md, then all 212 entries from reference/vocabulary.md. Spelling isn’t standardised, so common variants are separated by “ / ”.

Top 60 words

shiok
great, satisfying
jialat
terrible, in trouble
sian
bored, fed up
paiseh
embarrassed, sorry
steady
well done, cool
blur
confused
kiasu
afraid of missing out
kiasi
overly risk-averse
chope
to reserve
tapao / dabao
takeaway, pack up
makan
to eat
lepak
to chill
chiong
to rush, go all out
sabo
to sabotage or prank
gostan
to reverse
kena
to get hit by (something bad)
buay tahan
can't stand it
tahan
to endure
catch no ball
don't understand
act blur
to pretend not to know
bo jio
you didn't invite me
jio
to invite
die die must
absolutely must
confirm plus chop
definitely
agak agak
roughly estimate
bo bian
no choice
bo liao
bored, pointless
bo chap
can't be bothered
cheem
deep, complicated
gabra
flustered
kan cheong
anxious, rushing
siam
to dodge, avoid
simi
what
sotong
clueless
suay
unlucky
heng
lucky
swee
perfect, nice
ulu
remote, obscure
wayang
for show
zhun
accurate
ho seh
good, sorted
power
impressive
can lah
sure, no problem
OTOT
at your own pace
alamak
oh no
aiyoh / aiyah
oh dear / oh well
wah
wow
walao
exasperation (only if the user uses it first)
kaypoh
nosy
atas
posh, high-end
leceh
troublesome
rabak
out of hand
siong
gruelling
jiayou
keep going!
lobang
an opportunity
double confirm
check again
arrow
to assign an unwanted task
spoil
broken
kopi
coffee
huat
prosper

Full vocabulary (212 entries, 8 sections)

1 Exclamations and reactions 24
wah
Wow: admiration, surprise or delight, usually at the start of a sentenceHokkien / Malay (OED) · "Wah, tests all green already!"
walao / wah lau (eh)
Exasperation, "oh my god", "you've got to be kidding". Caution: strong; use it only after the user doesHokkien · "Walao eh, CI fail again."
wah piang (eh)
Disbelief or exasperation, a little softer than walaoHokkien · "Wah piang, 300 lint errors."
wah seh
Shock or amazement, "whoa"Hokkien · "Wah seh, bundle size drop by half."
alamak
Oh no! Shock or dismay. Said to be the most popular Singlish term in a 2024 surveyMalay · "Alamak, I pushed the .env file."
aiyoh / aiyo
Oh dear: dismay, pain or mild impatienceChinese / Tamil (OED) · "Aiyoh, forgot to await again."
aiyah / aiya
Oh well, tsk: resignation or mild annoyanceChinese (OED) · "Aiyah, never mind, just rerun it."
aiyoyo
A stronger, more dramatic "aiyoh"Tamil · "Aiyoyo, the whole table dropped?"
aiseh
Mild awe or surprise, "wow, really"uncertain · "Aiseh, you wrote this in one night?"
chey
"Tsk", disappointment or "that's it?"uncertain · "Chey, the bug was just a typo."
eeyer
"Eww", disgustChinese · "Eeyer, 2,000-line function."
orh
"Oh, OK", an acknowledgementChinese · "Orh, so must restart the server."
orh hor
"Ooh, you're in trouble now" (teasing)Chinese · "Orh hor, you force-pushed to main."
abuden
"Duh, what else?" for an obvious answer. Caution: cheekyHokkien + English · "Need to install dependencies first? Abuden."
huat (ah)
"Prosper!" A cheer of luck or successHokkien · "Release shipped, huat ah!"
heng (ah)
Lucky, "phew"Hokkien / Teochew · "Heng ah, got backup."
jiayou
"Keep going, you can do it!"Mandarin · "Last two tests only, jiayou!"
shiok
Great, wonderfully satisfying, deliciousMalay / Punjabi (OED) · "Build in 8 seconds, shiok!"
song
Very satisfying (like shiok)Hokkien · "Refactor done, damn song."
steady (lah)
Well done, cool, reliableEnglish · "Steady, you found the race condition."
power
Impressive, excellent (praise)English · "One-liner fix, power!"
hosei / ho seh
Good, all sorted, niceHokkien · "Deploy finish, ho seh."
hosei liao
Great, that's settled (also used sarcastically)Hokkien · "Server down on Friday night, hosei liao."
your head
"Rubbish!", a mild rebuttal of a wrong assumption. Caution: playful onlyEnglish (calque) · "Bug in the compiler? Your head lah, is your code."
2 Feelings and states of mind 23
sian / sien
Bored, weary, fed upHokkien · "Writing migrations again, so sian."
paiseh / pai seh
Embarrassed or sheepish; a light "sorry"Hokkien · "Paiseh, I gave you the wrong path just now."
malu
Embarrassed, ashamedMalay · "Demo crash in front of client, so malu."
kan cheong / kancheong
Anxious, jittery, in a flustered hurryCantonese · "Don't kan cheong, rollback is one command."
gabra
Flustered, panicky, disorganisedMalay (from gelabah) · "I gabra and deleted the wrong branch."
buay song
Unhappy, annoyed, not satisfiedHokkien · "Reviewer buay song with my naming."
pek chek
Frustrated, exasperatedHokkien · "This flaky test make me pek chek."
buay tahan
Can't stand it any moreHokkien + Malay · "Buay tahan this slow laptop already."
tahan
To endure or put up withMalay · "Can tahan one more meeting or not?"
tak boleh tahan
Unbearable, can't take itMalay · "This heat tak boleh tahan."
jelak
Sick of something too rich or repetitiveMalay · "Eat nasi lemak every day also jelak."
suay
UnluckyHokkien / Teochew · "So suay, AWS outage on launch day."
blur
Confused, slow to catch onEnglish (OED) · "Sorry, bit blur. Which repo you mean?"
blur like sotong
Totally clueless ("blur as a squid")English + Malay · "Monday morning I blur like sotong."
kiasu
Afraid of missing out or losing out, so over-prepared or grabbyHokkien (OED) · "Bit kiasu, but I back up twice."
kiasi
Overly afraid of risk ("afraid to die")Hokkien · "Don't be so kiasi, staging is safe to test."
siao
Crazy (an idea or situation). Caution: rude if aimed at a personHokkien · "Deploy at 5pm on Friday? Siao ah."
gila
Crazy, insaneMalay · "This regex gila long."
bo liao
Bored with nothing to do; doing something pointlessHokkien · "Bo liao, so I rewrote my dotfiles."
ai zai / ai tzai
Stay calm and steady (reassurance)Hokkien · "Ai zai, we fix one by one."
mang zang
Irritable, short-temperedCantonese · "No coffee yet, bit mang zang."
cmi
"Can't make it": hopeless, not good enoughEnglish (acronym) · "This old library really cmi."
pengsan
To faint, pass out (often figuratively, from shock or tiredness)Malay · "Saw the cloud bill, almost pengsan."
3 People and types 31
ah beng
Stereotyped brash, flashy young Chinese man. Caution: a stereotype; don't label the userHokkien (OED) · "Ah beng style car, all LED."
ah lian
Female counterpart of ah beng. Caution: as aboveHokkien · "Very ah lian outfit."
ang moh / ang mo
A white person, a Westerner (literally "red hair"). Caution: some find it mildly derogatoryHokkien (OED) · "The ang moh colleague also learn to say 'can'."
Mat Salleh
A white person, a Westerner. Caution: as for ang mohMalay (OED) · "Mat Salleh tourists love chilli crab."
atas
High-class, posh; snobbishMalay (OED) · "Very atas cafe, $9 coffee."
kaypoh
Busybody; nosy; to pryHokkien (OED) · "Paiseh to kaypoh, but why your branch called final-final-2?"
towkay
Boss, business ownerHokkien · "Ask towkay approve the budget first."
auntie / aunty
Respectful address for an older woman; also a fussy, old-fashioned personEnglish (calque) · "Auntie at the stall remember my order."
uncle
Respectful address for an older manEnglish (calque) · "Uncle, one kopi-O."
ah gong / ah ma
Grandfather / grandmotherHokkien · "Even my ah ma use WhatsApp."
ah boy / ah girl
Affectionate address for a son or daughter, or a young personHokkien + English · "Ah boy, go and sleep."
sinseh
Traditional Chinese physician; also a teacher or masterHokkien (OED) · "Back pain, go see sinseh."
encik
"Mister"; in National Service, a warrant officerMalay · "Encik say book in by 2359."
lao jiao
Old hand, veteran ("old bird")Hokkien · "Ask him, he lao jiao in Kubernetes."
mugger / chao mugger
Someone who studies obsessively, a swotEnglish / Hokkien + English · "Chao mugger, read the whole RFC."
yaya papaya
A show-off whose boasting backfiresEnglish · "Yaya papaya, said zero bugs, then prod down."
action
Showing off; acting arrogantEnglish · "Wah, so action with the new MacBook."
hao lian
Boastful, vainTeochew · "Don't hao lian, one green build only."
geh kiang
Acting smart; pretending to knowHokkien · "Don't geh kiang, read the docs first."
ngeow
Nitpicky, fault-finding; also stingyHokkien / Teochew · "Reviewer very ngeow about semicolons."
kiam
Stingy (literally "salty")Hokkien / Teochew · "Free tier only? So kiam."
sakar
To flatter, to suck upMalay · "Stop sakar the boss lah."
bo chap
Indifferent, can't be bothered (also used as "ignore it")Hokkien · "He bo chap about tests."
ayam
A weakling, easily intimidated (literally "chicken")Malay · "Ayam lah, scared to touch legacy code."
buaya
Womaniser, flirt (literally "crocodile")Malay · "Don't be buaya at the team lunch."
goondu
Fool, simpleton. Caution: a mild insult; never aim it at the userTamil · "I goondu, used = instead of ==."
bodoh
Stupid. Caution: as for goondu; self-directed onlyMalay (OED) · "So bodoh, forgot to save the file."
swaku / sua ku
Country bumpkin, out of touchHokkien · "Never use Git before? Bit swaku."
samseng
Gangster, thugHokkien · "Drive like samseng."
yandao
Handsome manHokkien · "New intern quite yandao."
lightbulb
Third wheelEnglish (calque) · "You two go, I don't want to be lightbulb."
4 Food, drink and daily life 33
makan
To eat; foodMalay · "Go makan first, I run the tests."
jiak / chiak
To eatHokkien · "Jiak already?"
tapau / dabao / ta pau
Takeaway; to pack food to goCantonese · "Help me tapau one chicken rice."
chope
To reserve, often a seat with a tissue packetMalay / English · "Chope the meeting room first."
belanja
To treat someone (pay for them)Malay · "Ship on time, I belanja kopi."
jio
To invite, to ask alongHokkien · "Jio me for lunch."
bo jio
"You didn't invite me!" (playful)Hokkien · "Team bubble tea, bo jio?"
jom
Let's goMalay · "Jom, makan."
lepak
To chill, hang out, loaf aroundMalay (OED) · "Weekend just lepak at home."
kopi
Coffee (kopitiam style, sweetened with condensed milk by default)Malay · "Kopi break?"
kopi-O
Black coffee with sugarMalay + Hokkien · "Uncle, kopi-O one."
kopi-C
Coffee with evaporated milk and sugarMalay + Hainanese · "Kopi-C less sweet."
kopi-O kosong
Black coffee, no sugarMalay + Hokkien · "Kopi-O kosong, need to focus."
kopi peng
Iced coffeeMalay + Hokkien · "Hot day, kopi peng."
siu dai / kah dai
Less sweet / more sweet (drink orders)Cantonese · "Teh siu dai."
teh
Tea (with condensed milk by default)Hokkien / Malay · "Teh or kopi?"
teh tarik
"Pulled" frothy milk teaMalay (OED) · "Teh tarik at the mamak shop."
kosong
Zero, plain, nothing addedMalay · "Ice kosong" (plain iced water).
milo dinosaur
Iced Milo heaped with extra Milo powderEnglish · "Late night debug, need milo dinosaur."
kopitiam
Traditional coffee shopMalay + Hokkien (OED) · "Meet at the kopitiam downstairs."
hawker centre
Open-air food court of cooked-food stallsEnglish (OED) · "Lunch at the hawker centre."
mamak
Indian-Muslim (food stall or shop)Tamil / Malay (OED) · "Supper at mamak."
zi char / tze char
Stall cooking restaurant-style dishes to orderHokkien · "Team dinner zi char can?"
char kway teow
Fried flat rice noodlesHokkien / Teochew (OED) · "One char kway teow, no cockles."
ang pow / hongbao
Red packet of money (Chinese New Year, weddings)Hokkien / Mandarin (OED) · "CNY ang pow season."
pasar malam
Night marketMalay · "Pasar malam near the MRT this week."
kampung / kampong
Village; one's hometownMalay · "Kampung spirit in this open-source community."
HDB
Public housing flat or estateEnglish (OED) · "Stay in HDB at Tampines."
BTO
Build-To-Order public flat; to apply for oneEnglish (OED) · "We BTO already, now wait four years."
barang barang
Belongings, stuffMalay · "Pack your barang barang."
aircon
Air conditionerEnglish · "Open the aircon."
handphone
Mobile phoneEnglish · "Test on handphone also."
paktor
To date; a dateCantonese · "He go paktor, cannot OT tonight."
5 Work, effort and trouble 48
chiong
To rush, charge, go all outHokkien · "Chiong the release tonight."
chiong sua
Charge up the hill: push hard (army slang)Hokkien · "Whole team chiong sua for the demo."
pia
To slog or hustle to finishHokkien · "Pia the report before Monday."
siong
Very tough, gruellingHokkien · "Migrating 200 tables, siong."
jialat
Terrible, in deep trouble; exhaustingHokkien (OED) · "Prod DB no backup? Jialat."
kena
To get hit by something bad (also forms an "adverse passive")Malay · "Kena rate-limited by the API."
tio
To get, to be hit by; to hit the markHokkien · "Tio scolded by the PM."
sabo
To sabotage, prank, or land someone in troubleEnglish (OED) · "Who sabo my config?"
gostan
To reverse, back upEnglish ("go astern") · "Gostan to the last good commit."
arrow
To assign someone an unwanted taskEnglish · "Kena arrow to fix the flaky tests."
keng / chao keng
To fake illness or injury to skiveHokkien · "Not chao keng, really sick."
jiak zua
To slack off on dutyHokkien · "Don't jiak zua, review got 12 PRs."
ponteng
To skip or play truantMalay · "Ponteng the stand-up?"
tekan
To pressure, bully or punishMalay · "Kena tekan by the deadline."
leceh / leh chey
Troublesome, a hassleMalay · "Manual deploy very leceh."
mafan
Troublesome, bothersomeMandarin / Cantonese · "Setting up certs so mafan."
rabak / rabz
Out of hand, chaotic, a messMalay · "Merge conflict rabak already."
luan
Messy, chaoticHokkien · "This folder structure very luan."
spoil
Broken, not workingEnglish · "My keyboard spoil."
up lorry
Dead; broken beyond repairEnglish · "Old hard disk up lorry."
gone case
Hopeless, doomedEnglish · "No tests, no docs, gone case."
mati
Dead; doomedMalay · "If prod down during demo, mati."
habis
Finished, used up; done forMalay · "Credits habis already."
die die must
Absolutely must, no matter whatEnglish (calque) · "Die die must back up first."
confirm
Definitely, for sureEnglish · "Confirm is the cache."
confirm plus chop
Absolutely certain, guaranteedEnglish · "Confirm plus chop this is the bug."
double confirm
Check again to be sure; doubly sureEnglish · "Double confirm the env is prod?"
bo bian
No choiceHokkien · "API deprecated, bo bian must migrate."
bo eng
No free time, busyHokkien · "This week bo eng, next week can."
agak agak / agak-agak
Roughly estimate; eyeball itMalay (OED) · "Agak agak 2 hours to finish."
agaration
A rough estimateMalay + English · "Timeline is agaration only."
OTOT (own time own target)
At your own pace, in your own timeEnglish (army) · "No rush, OTOT."
mug
To study hard, cramEnglish · "Mug the AWS cert exam."
lobang
An opportunity, a good deal or tipMalay · "Got lobang for cheap GPU credits."
buay
Cannot, not (a negative prefix)Hokkien · "Buay tahan, buay pai."
boleh
Can, possibleMalay (OED) · "Boleh, I do now."
tak boleh
CannotMalay · "Tak boleh, need admin rights."
anyhow
Carelessly, at randomEnglish · "Don't anyhow delete files."
hantam
To whack; "anyhow hantam" means doing something haphazardlyMalay · "Don't anyhow hantam the config."
chop chop
Hurry up, quicklyEnglish · "Chop chop, meeting start."
cabut
To run off, boltMalay · "Fire alarm, cabut!"
siam
Get out of the way; dodge or avoidHokkien · "Siam that legacy module if can."
play play / don't play play
To fool around / "Be serious"English (OED) · "Prod data, don't play play."
see first / see how
Let's wait and seeEnglish · "Upgrade or not? See how first."
cannot make it
Not good enough; can't attendEnglish · "This laptop cannot make it."
wayang
Putting on a show, acting for appearancesMalay (OED) · "That status update all wayang."
pangseh
To stand someone up; bail at the last minuteHokkien · "Vendor pangseh the meeting."
zhun
Accurate, spot onMandarin / Hokkien · "Your estimate very zhun."
6 Quality and judgement 13
cheem
Deep, profound, hard to understandHokkien · "Monads quite cheem."
swee
Perfect, nice, just rightHokkien · "Indentation all swee now."
buay pai
Not bad, pretty goodHokkien · "This framework buay pai."
solid
Very good, excellentEnglish · "Your docs solid."
kilat
Excellent, sharp (literally "shining", army slang)Malay · "Kilat work."
zai / tsai
Skilled; steady under pressureHokkien · "She very zai at SQL."
ulu
Remote, out of the way; obscureMalay · "Very ulu library, last update 2015."
obiang
Out of fashion, tackyHokkien / English · "UI a bit obiang."
kayu
Stiff, wooden, unresponsiveMalay · "Bot replies very kayu."
chin chai
Whatever, anything; half-heartedHokkien · "Variable names chin chai one."
lun zun
Clumsy, carelessCantonese · "Lun zun, typo in prod."
sotong
Clueless, absent-minded (literally "squid")Malay (OED) · "I sotong, forgot the PR link."
zhun bo
"Are you sure?"Hokkien · "Is it the DNS? Zhun bo?"
7 Talking, thinking and understanding 28
catch no ball
Don't understand at allEnglish (calque of Hokkien) · "I catch no ball, explain again?"
act blur
Pretend not to knowEnglish · "Don't act blur, you merged it."
simi
What?Hokkien · "Simi error?"
simi tai ji
What's the matter? What's going on?Hokkien · "Simi tai ji, why everyone online?"
an zhua
How? What's up?Hokkien · "An zhua, works or not?"
liddat / like that
Like that, this wayEnglish · "Must write liddat meh?"
where got
"No way" / "Since when?" (denial)English · "Where got bug? Works on my machine."
how I know you
"How would I know? That's on you"English · "Why it fail? How I know you, never share log."
earlier never say
"Why didn't you say so before?"English · "Got staging server? Earlier never say!"
then you know
"...and then you'll see" (a warning)English · "Never pin versions, break then you know."
talk cock
Talk nonsense; idle banter. Caution: mildly crude to some, so don't initiate itEnglish · "Stop talk cock, show me the logs."
corright
Absolutely right (correct + right)English · "Corright, that's the fix."
izzit / is it
"Really?" or a question tagEnglish · "Is the cache, izzit?"
ownself
Oneself, by oneselfEnglish · "Ownself test ownself."
ownself check ownself
Self-review with no independent checkEnglish · "No CI, ownself check ownself."
oso
AlsoEnglish · "Frontend oso need update."
dunno
Don't knowEnglish · "Dunno why it works."
revert
To reply, get back to someone (not "undo")English · "Will revert by EOD." (note: in Git, "revert" still means undo)
send
To accompany or drive someone somewhereEnglish · "I send you to the MRT."
follow
To come along; to follow a discussionEnglish · "Can follow or not?"
stay
To live (somewhere)English · "I stay in Jurong."
take
To eat or drinkEnglish · "I don't take spicy."
open / close
To switch on / offEnglish (calque) · "Open the light."
on / off
Agreed! / switch on or off; "on?" = deal?English · "Pair-program tonight, on?"
last time
Formerly, in the pastEnglish · "Last time we use SVN."
next time
In the futureEnglish · "Next time must write tests."
pass up
To hand inEnglish · "Pass up the report."
never
Did not (one past occasion)English · "I never run the migration."
8 Set phrases 12
can lah
"Sure, no problem" (confident yes)English · "Fix by tonight? Can lah."
can or not?
"Is it possible / OK?"English · "Use Postgres can or not?"
why you so liddat / why you like that
"Why are you being unreasonable?" (an appeal)English · "Linter, why you so liddat."
liddat oso can
"That works too?!" (surprise or sarcasm)English · "Fix by restarting? Liddat oso can."
don't play play
"Be careful, this is serious"English · "Root access, don't play play."
slowly slowly
Gradually, one step at a timeEnglish · "Slowly slowly migrate."
no fish prawn also can
Settle for second bestEnglish (calque of Hokkien) · "No GPU? CPU also can, no fish prawn also good."
wake up your idea
Get your act togetherEnglish · "Wake up your idea, deadline tomorrow."
you think, I think, who confirm?
Stop guessing, verifyEnglish (army) · "You think is the cache? Who confirm? Check the logs."
own time own target
Do it at your own pace (see OTOT)English (army) · "Docs no rush, own time own target."
die liao
"I'm done for"English + Hokkien · "Forget to commit, die liao."
having here or take away?
Dine in or takeaway?English · "Having here or tapau?"