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.
* 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:
ma si sa kho ma si sa kor
* The diacritic ◌̃ represents a nasalized vowel.
[ SSS:
ma si sã khor ]
ma si sa khor
→
Hokkien:
嘛是三箍
poj:
mā-sī saⁿ kho͘
Detailed etymology
definitions
expression
- (NS, aphorism) used to express that no matter what, one's pay will still be the same pitifully small amount at the end of the day, and thus there is no need to put in too much effort and hard work
usage notes
Also used in civilian contexts, in any situation where someone is being too extra1 or enthu about something when the extra effort will not matter at the end of the day.
* 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.