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tauke

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:

tauke thau ke thau kay

towkay

简 繁

→

Min nan:

头家

poj:

thâu-ke

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

noun

  1. a boss; the proprietor of a shop or business; term of address for a boss or business owner

    2. A trusted towkay was looked up to for more than just employment ... If disputes between lightermen occurred it would likely be the towkay who stepped in to resolve the conflict.

    — 2013, Stephen Dobbs. Singapore River. NUS Press. ISBN: 9789971697389. p.96

    Another photograph showed Towkay Ong, short, bald and stout, the man who had plucked Ah Buck out of the filth of Pagoda Lane and installed him in Telok Ayer Street as his son-in-law. The first Towkay Ong, owner of twenty-five rickshaws, no mean wealth in those days, had no male issue.

    — 2013, Suchen Christine Lim (excerpt). Writing Singapore: An Historical Anthology of Singapore Literature. National arts council. ISBN: 9789971694586. p.396


categories:

terms of address

entries starting with

'tauke'