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:
mata mata
mata-mata
→
Malay:
mata-mata
Detailed etymology
definitions
noun
- a policeman; a police officer
- the police
Hawksworth and his men were not liked by anyone — neither by the local populace nor by their fellow uniformed constables. The locals referred to them as mata-mata, the Malay word for 'eyes'. They were not to be trusted, the people had decided ...
— 2013, William Gibson. Singapore Black. Monsoon Books Pte. Limited. ISBN: 9789814423410
synonyms:
Law and order had broken down after the local mata-mata (police) had fled into the country.
— 2010, Peter Thompson. The Battle for Singapore: The True Story of the Greatest Catastrophe of World War II. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN: 9780748122332
synonyms: