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niao

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:

ngiao niau niao ngeow neow

ngiau

Min nan:

poj:

ngiau

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

adjective

  1. stingy; miserly; overly frugal
  2. Rich folks are generally super ngiau + ability to make more money than average people, resulted in them becoming rich.

    — 2024 February 13, SquallLH. Hardwarezone, "Man puzzled by how so many Singaporeans earn “around $8-10K easily”". https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/man-puzzled-by-how-so-many-singaporeans-earn-around-8-10k-easily.7000090/page-7

  3. overly strict; fussy; pedantic; anal
  4. Customers also can be ngiau want this and that customize.

    — 2023 October 23, cyke69sg. Hardwarezone, "Young Western Food Hawker, 24, Seeks Help Online For Struggling Stall: ‘I Only Earn $20 From Lunch Crowd’". https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/young-western-food-hawker-24-seeks-help-online-for-struggling-stall-i-only-earn-20-from-lunch-crowd.6963186/page-2

    Some airports are ngiau, eg. Japan airport. Not sure if they do for all airlines but peach, SQ and zipair got check handcarry size and weight.

    — 2023 December 23, yuzu28. Hardwarezone, "Can you carry cabin bags that weigh 30-50kg?". https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/can-you-carry-cabin-bags-that-weigh-30-50kg.6982668/

    synonyms:


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