Singlish Dictionary ~ Kan Cheong

Someone just asked me what's the English equivalent for the Singlish Word 'Kan Cheong'.

I think the best words to describe this is 'Anxious' or 'High-Strung'.

So I think Kan Cheong = Anxious or High-Strung.

anxious

adj.

1. Uneasy and apprehensive about an uncertain event or matter; worried.

2. Attended with, showing, or causing anxiety: spent an anxious night waiting for the test results.

3. Usage Problem Eagerly or earnestly desirous.

high-strung

adj.

Tending to be very nervous and easily excited.

Here below are other takes on this word 'Kan Cheong'

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http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_K.htm#kan_cheong_spider

kan cheong /kahn cheong, kɑn tʃiːɒŋ/ a. [Cant. 紧 kan urgent, in haste, pressing, important + 张 cheung to bend a bow; to extend, to stretch; to open (Eitel); Mand. jĭnzhāng nervous, keyed up; tense, intense, strained: jĭn urgent, pressing, tense + zhāng open, spread, stretch; magnify, exaggerate (Chi.–Eng. Dict.)] Also kancheong.  1 Nervous, keyed up.  2 Tense, intense, strained. 

• 2002 Michelle Ho (quoting Diana Liaw) The Straits Times (Life!), 13 August, L8 I was so 'kancheong' (Cantonese for worried) about his tests that I woke him up at 5:30 am to remind him not to make mistakes.  

• 2004 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 3 October, L16 [T]he Wife was unusually late one night coming home from class, and I was getting increasingly kan cheong..  

• 2006 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 1 January, L12 Of course, when we mentioned to Singaporean friends and relatives that we were planning on doing this, they got all kan cheong.  

• 2008 Colin Goh The Sunday Times (LifeStyle), 2 November, 14 I wasn't always this kan cheong about elections. 

Comb.: kan cheong spider n. & a. [Eng.]  A n. A person with a nervous disposition, one who is easily flustered. B a. Kan cheong. 

• A 2003 Jane Lee (quoting Seto Lek Keong) The Straits Times (Home), 20 October, H4 'My platoon mates call me "kan cheong spider",' – a term used to describe someone who is nervous – he says, grinning as he relates his daily fumbling at roll call that inspired the Singlish monicker. 

• B 2000 Tan Shzr Eee (quoting Huang Lie Chuan) The Sunday Times (Sunday Plus), 10 December, P2 'Before that, I was using Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee [for my mobile telephone ringing tone] – my friends called it the kancheong spider tune. ..' Kancheong is Cantonese for anxious.

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http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexLink&lexicon=lexicon&keyword=KAN%20CHEONG

KAN CHEONG
(kahn chee-ong)
A Cantonese and Hokkien term meaning nervous, harried or uptight.
"Your exam in June, now only March, you kan-cheong for what?" (The exam's in June and now it's only March. What are you getting so nervous about?"

KAN CHEONG SPIDER/KAN CHEONG PI SAI  (Contributed by Wendy Tan)
Terms used to describe someone who's kan cheong. "Pi sai" is Hokkien for "nose booger". Can be abbreviated to omit the "kan".
1. "Aiyah, ask him to do this for what? You know he's a bloody kan cheong spider."
2. "Eh, relac can or not? You so kan cheong pi sai for what?"
3. "Wah lau, hurry, hurry, hurry for what? Super cheong spider."

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