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:

one come all come

one come, all come

English:

one

+

come

+

all

+

come

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

expression

  1. used to describe the phenomenon or situation where things appear to happen overwhelmingly and all at once instead of at regular intervals, due to e.g. poor scheduling, positive feedback, coincidental timing, social dynamics, etc.
  2. I was somewhat less frustrated when I heard one of my fellow commuters say to her girlfriend, "Don't come, don't come. One come, all come!"

    — 1984 April 10, S H Lim. Singapore Monitor, "All we ask for is a no-nonsense and efficient bus service". p.16

    Suddenly one elderly male got up, bowed and the whole group did likewise. More bows and the waiter was about to serve their desserts when the entire group got up and left. "They all so funny. Japanese people so funny. One go all go. One come all come. Don't even want dessert," ...

    — 1978 October 1, Terry Tan. New Nation, "On a misguided tour of S'pore". p.10/23


usage notes

Examples include the queue for food at a hawker stall suddenly growing (due to the perception that a stall with a queue is popular because it is good), or several buses of the same number arriving at a bus stop at once (when one had been waiting there for ages without a single one of that number arriving).


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