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:

ter ba boom terba boom tebaboom

terbaboom

→

Malay:

ter-

+

Singlish:

ji ba boom

expand for details Detailed etymology

definitions

noun

  1. (onomatopoeic) the sound of a large explosion

    2. Last time we pack the gunpowder in the badminton tiang
    Then light
    Then terbaboom
    Then about 2 years don't have badminton court ... My family donate some money to RA to fix the tiang

    — 2022 october 25, spacelion. Lowyat, " so is firecrackers legal in Malaysia now?, so fking annoying". https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/5320935/all

    synonyms:

    jibaboom
  2. (onomatopoeic, by extension) a large explosion

    3. synonyms:

    jibaboom
  3. (by extension, figurative) an explosion, in any other figurative sense

    4. got one long time ago at kampung melayu majidee, use black choc... bitter + sweet + coloring = terbaboom
    not sure where they move now... price around 3.50

    — 2019 February 14, breaker84. Lowyat, "Best Ice Kacang You've Ever Had". https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4738086/+0&

    synonyms:

    jibaboom

verb

  1. (onomatopoeic) to explode; to burst; to go boom

    2. I ate so many chicken nuggets, I was going to tebaboom.

    — 2011 March 4, MrBrown. CNNGo, "mrbrown revives bygone Singapore slang". https://web.archive.org/web/20130824212901/http://travel.cnn.com/singapore/life/mrbrown-revival-singapore-slang-120981. Archived from the original on 2013 January 9

    synonyms:

    jibaboom

interjection

  1. (onomatopoeic) the sound of a large explosion

    2. I don’t wanna be the Encik on the ground saying nb won’t go off one la if gonna detonate alr it would have done so 80 years ago…terbaboom ... Shag bro ... Low risk of detonation but v severe consequence

    — 2023 October 16, u/Feisty-Gap6969. Reddit, "How Singapore police raced against the clock to deal with a bomb which 'could go off at any time'". https://www.reddit.com/r/singaporehappenings/comments/178uj34/how_singapore_police_raced_against_the_clock_to/

    synonyms:

    jibaboom

usage notes

Often used humorously.