Alamak! I just came across this.
The Portuguese Eurasians in Singapore have more influence in Singlish than I had original thought.
Apparently, the origin of the Singlish word 'Alamak' is Portuguese... hmm... I didn't know that.
The Portuguese Eurasians in Singapore have more influence in Singlish than I had original thought.
Apparently, the origin of the Singlish word 'Alamak' is Portuguese... hmm... I didn't know that.
A friend of mine told me that it could be a Spanish form of...
..., 'a la madre' which (I was told) isn't exactly a polite phrase.
Anyway... check it out here below at this link...
===.
| Term | Origin | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Alamak | Portuguese | Phonetically close to the Chinese term "Oh, my mother!". It expresses shock or surprise. |
===.
This post was inspired when the Malay Shop I was eating at...
had this slogan..., "ala Mak, simply delicious" which I took
to mean..., "just like Mum's (cooking), simply delicious".
The word 'a la' in French means 'in the style of'.
The word 'mak' in Malay means 'mother'.
===.
Other Views on the internet
===.
http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexLink&lexicon=lexicon&keyword=ALAMAK
ALAMAK (Contributed by Vidya Hable) ~ An Malay expression of dismay, surprise or alarm that has long been rumoured to mean "Allah's mother" but more likely comes either from the Arabic "Allah Ma'ak", meaning, "God be with you" or "Allah maaf kar" meaning "God forgive you". ~ "Alamak! Why you go and do this sort of stupid thing?"
===.
had this slogan..., "ala Mak, simply delicious" which I took
to mean..., "just like Mum's (cooking), simply delicious".
The word 'a la' in French means 'in the style of'.
The word 'mak' in Malay means 'mother'.
===.
Other Views on the internet
===.
http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexLink&lexicon=lexicon&keyword=ALAMAK
ALAMAK (Contributed by Vidya Hable) ~ An Malay expression of dismay, surprise or alarm that has long been rumoured to mean "Allah's mother" but more likely comes either from the Arabic "Allah Ma'ak", meaning, "God be with you" or "Allah maaf kar" meaning "God forgive you". ~ "Alamak! Why you go and do this sort of stupid thing?"
===.
2 comments:
I was told originally that it came from the Malay Alah Emak - Mother of God.
Hi Des, Yeah I thought it was from Malay too until I read the Wikipedia.
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