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:
peh kim
pek kim
→
Hokkien:
帛金
poj:
pe̍h-kim
Detailed etymology
definitions
noun
- money given at wakes and funerals as condolences for the bereaved
'... He's really something else. Do you know he actually contacted the school to ask us when we were going to send him the pek kim. Can you imagine?'
'Send him the pek kim? Isn't he going to hold a wake?' I had the vague impression that you didn't have pek kim without a wake.
— 2022, Julianne Cheah. The Death of Sally Song. Monsoon Books Pte. Limited. ISBN: 9781915310033
I shrugged. "Okay, can you get the pek kim box and count the money in it?"
— 2016, Jing-Jing Lee. Cake, from Singapore Love Stories. Monsoon Books Pte. Limited. ISBN: 9789814625500