Commonly found variants; note these may range from acceptable alternatives to non-standard forms or incorrect spellings*.
* Singlish is a largely spoken creole, and as such descriptivism (recording forms that reflect actual pronunciation in spoken language, or as appearing in the linguistic corpus) is more pertinent than strict prescriptivism. Nevertheless, the use of more standard forms (or for words originating in languages with Latin script, such as Malay, accurate to the original spelling) is recommended and encouraged.

also can:

ow ow salakau au au sa lak kau au au 369

* The diacritic ◌̃ represents a nasalized vowel.

[ SSS:

au au sãlakau ]

au au salakau

Hokkien:

poj:

áu

+

三六九

poj:

saⁿ-la̍k-káu

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

expression

  1. (provocative, crass) a gang shout used by the infamous 369 (Salakau) gang. Associated with violent gangsterism, delinquency, criminals, and low-class behaviour.

usage notes

Don't.


* The nasal vowel is almost always unmarked by speakers, though it is very important to the pronunciation of the term. In a dipthong or tripthong, the recommended convention is to mark the final vowel, unless it is spelled using a repeated letter, in which case the first-occurring repeated letter is marked.

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