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:
wa seh wa sai wah sei wahsei wah say wa sei wa say
wah seh
→
Mandarin:
哇塞
pinyin:
wā/wà sèi/sài
Detailed etymology
definitions
interjection
- my goodness; wow; exclamation of surprise, shock, amazement, admiration, etc.
"Wah seh!" Ping exclaimed. "That's got to be the richest sample we've ever found at our touchdown site."
— 2017, Shelly Bryant. Launch Pad. Epigram Books. ISBN: 9789814785211
"Wah seh, you so stylo milo today. You got pak toh izzit?" Alana flicked her hair, batted her eyes, and put her hands on her hips.
— 2019, Poppy Inkwell. Torment and Trickery. Enslow Publishing, LLC. ISBN: 9781538384848. p.90
synonyms:
usage notes
Not considered vulgar in Mandarin (as the interjection was only borrowed phonetically), and thus also generally not recognized as vulgar in Singlish.